Innocent Attraction
by suspensegirl
Summary: 5x22 - She didn't know why she said it. She didn't need to hear the confirmation. But there was a hunger in Chuck's eyes that she couldn't deny. So, she looked up at him and asked, "You're still attracted to me?" CB
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I debated whether or not to put this in FYWB for when I get around to this ep, but I wanted to post it now & I have another idea with how to get them together in 5x22 that I can put in there. Plus…they don't get together officially in this o/s, so…yeah. ANYWAYS! This is an idea that popped in my head while I was at church – shame, shame – and I couldn't get it out, so I wrote it in my little notebook and here it is! Enjoy. It begins just after Blair takes Diana's notebook from Chuck after he shamelessly flatters her and stares her down like he wants to take her right there on the carpet. ;)

*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

…

**Ch.1-**

She didn't know why she said it. She didn't need to hear the confirmation of what she suspected lay in his hazel brown eyes.

She was truly happy. Truly. Completely. She couldn't be happier if she tried. Dan was wonderful.

But there was a hunger in Chuck's eyes that she couldn't deny. It gave her delicious chills and made her feel warm, even if she'd batted him away with the concentration on their mission.

Still, she longed for the confirmation from his soft, velvety, full lips – that she _wasn't_ desperate to touch, err- stare at – all of a sudden.

She tried to snap herself out of the haze his brief heated stare had put her under, but still, with Diana's planner clutched in her hand, she looked up at him and asked,

"You're still attracted to me?"

Chuck's eyes widened and he lost his breath. If he'd just had a drink, he thought, he would've choked on it right then.

_Was he still attracted to her? Was she out of her mind? Of course he was still attracted to her. Had she seen herself lately?_ It was impossible for him _not_ to be attracted to her. It always would be. If they were together right now he'd have her pressed up against the wall, one hand gripping her ass and the other wrapped up in her hair, threading through the thick, silky locks with his fingers as he kissed her until she couldn't breathe.

Because she was just too beautiful not to be touched absolutely everywhere.

But he didn't have the slightest idea how to voice these thoughts without overstepping his bounds, so he raised his eyebrows instead and sported an amused expression on his face.

She flushed.

"Right," she squeaked, quickly clearing her throat to cover up her flustered state.

He smiled smugly, satisfied that he'd gotten his point across.

"You're attracted to _all_ women," she said bluntly, rolling her eyes as she finally opened the planner absorbing the sweat on her hands and started flipping through the pages. It was more of a struggle than she would have liked to admit to focus on what she was actually doing here with Chuck in her sitting room.

Her heart was suddenly beating faster, and she hated that it was so hard to control it.

Chuck frowned at first in response to her conclusion, but then continued smoothly,

"Not so much anymore," he said.

She lifted her eyes to his hesitantly.

"My preferences are more narrowed down than they were before," he confided, the brief heat back in his eyes. The seduction she hadn't heard for so long in his voice was now thickly laced in every word he spoke.

"Oh?" she inquired innocently, regretting soon after how much was goading him on, indirectly demanding he tell her how smitten he was with her and how much he desired her body.

The sexual tension building between them more by the second. It was bad how much she loved it. She fed off of his need for her.

"You have a type now?" she asked doubtfully, still with that hint of innocent curiosity.

"Mmm," he said, amused. "Petite, brown hair…brown eyes," he listed casually.

Then he paused and lowered his gaze to her legs, roving his eyes over them.

When his gaze returned to her face, it was a heated, fiery, lust-filled induced stare, and she almost gasped the from the sheer intensity of it.

"…_fantastic_ legs," he purred.

She cleared her throat somewhat loudly, hoping it would shake her out of this intoxicating moment and cool her down enough to try and focus again on the task at hand – the _scheming_ task, her original purpose in having him there with her.

"Well, it's good to know what you want," she murmured, pushing forward. "But you should know," she said with more confidence, an exciting idea coming to her mind. "There aren't a whole lot of Blair Waldorf's out there." She smiled sweetly, proud of herself for conquering him.

She thought.

He leaned forward though and for a moment she thought he would try to kiss her.

"Who said I was talking about you?" he countered, almost in a whisper.

She frowned and her eyebrows narrowed, infuriated as she straightened herself back to her initial position. So much for her confirmation. Well, that was fine. She didn't need it anyways. It wasn't like his opinion mattered to her.

"Let's just get on with this," she muttered, turning her full attention to the notebook that suddenly held her entire focus.

…

A/N: It's dangerous for me to even say this, but I am a little tempted to keep going through the ep & have it build to…the ep ending differently. ;) Don't tempt me though! Lol Not that it entirely matters since I write on a whim with whatever I'm inspired with these days. Lol. Please review. And check out my CB-Broken vid that I just posted last night on yt! (username: ChuckBlairLuvA)


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: The response I got for this fic was _crazy_. I love it how you guys can just jump on board with whatever fic I write/update next, even if I don't update regularly with some of the ones meant for long-term. I think I would seriously regret if I didn't continue this fic! (Plus, it's fun. Hehe) Thanks for all the support. You're wonderful. =)

*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

….

**Ch.2—**

"_Waldorf, we need you!"_

"Just a sec!" she called out in a futile attempt to stop her heart from fluttering.

"Oh, is that Chuck?"

She heard the worry in his voice, and suddenly her sole purpose was proving to him that he had no reason for it. She was not being unfaithful in the slightest. Her heart was with Dan. Even if her body was betraying her every time Chuck looked her in the eye.

"Yes, he asked for my help with a scheme," she said. "You don't mind, do you?" she asked in that super sugar-sweet tone that knew would have him stuttering and feeling guilty if he doubted her in the slightest.

She continued with her explanation quickly, and even though he still sounded worrisome, he made to be okay with it just like she knew he would.

And as soon as he brought up his trip to Rome, she knew she could escape addressing the potential jealous streak he was trying to hide – and failing at, by acting the part of the supportive girlfriend.

Because she _was_ supportive. And he had _nothing_ to worry about.

She made a mental note to forget about how giddy she was to get back to the group as soon as she'd hung up the phone with Dan.

"Nathaniel, you must remember something Diana was doing that was unusual all those Saturdays," Chuck said, continuing his still unsuccessful interrogation of Nate's long/short-term memory.

"Besides you," Blair interjected, and even though Chuck didn't smile, she felt the unity between them, the amusement and admiration for each other's wit. It was like quicksand, and it was obvious even after Nate proved less than helpful and Serena tried to sneak away with their one clue to finding the answers to their questions.

Then again, maybe scheming together again was making her sink back into the time when they were so familiar with each other, it was like they were in sync. Maybe he didn't share the appreciation for her scheming abilities and wit that he once had.

Even if his attitude, facial expressions, and comments at her house when she'd explained how she planned on decoding Diana's planner proved otherwise.

"_B, did you just do it?"_

She was still glowing from the awe and admiration from all three of them, even if Serena had been the only one to voice it. She felt suddenly warmer with Chuck sitting beside her, especially when she turned to look at him and saw that he was staring at her in what could've been her suspected awe and admiration, even if it was subtle in the moment. She could only detect shock and surprise directly.

A quick text to Dan was all she needed to completely put him out of her mind for the night. If they returned to the city relatively early, maybe she'd peek in on him and see if he was still up for a late-night chat.

Sitting in between Chuck and Nate in the car, she had never wished so much for Nate to be gone.

They were friends now and what they had was great, but the fueling sexual tension that had heightened even further with the progress in their little investigation between her and Chuck made the environment surrounding them stifling; hot; she was surprised the windows weren't foggy.

It briefly irritated her that neither Chuck nor Nate seemed aware of it.

An upside to riding in the limo that it was incredibly roomy, so she wasn't pressed up against either of them more than she felt she had to be.

_Oh god though. _The memories that rose up in her at the thought of a _roomy limo_ and being _pressed up against Chuck…_

Her face paled.

_No._

"Blair?"

Her eyes snapped to Chuck's fingers lightly grazing her knee. Just a few inches higher and he'd be at the hem of her dress, a dress that was far too short to be so close to Chuck hugging the curves of her body and dipping into the cleavage of her breasts.

But she'd wanted to be in character, and she hadn't thought she'd be sitting this close to Chuck during their scheme.

She hadn't expected the sudden sexual tension when she first walked down the stairs either.

The heat in his eyes.

Just how far her "innocent question" would go.

"Hmm?" she managed, fully aware that she would've squeaked if she'd tried to form words. She was just glad that she'd caught sight of a sleeping Nate as her head turned quickly to look first at Chuck's hand and then at his questioning gaze.

He was _so_ close to her. Their lips only inches away.

_The limo was not god-damned roomy enough._

"You okay?" he asked, and she really wanted to know how he'd somehow _sensed_ the shift in her body temperature.

"Of course," she said sweetly. "Why wouldn't I be?"

He smiled a little shakily but then shook his head and removed his hand from her knee. She tried not to exhale too loudly in relief.

"I just had a feeling," he said, as he returned back to his original position and then leaned back in the seat, staring out the window.

Quickly, yet smoothly and daintily, she quickly crossed one leg over the other at the knee and tugged at her dress a little to cover more skin on her thighs, but it didn't help much. She still felt the burn of Chuck's fingers on her bare skin and even now she could feel the electricity between them as her heel barely touched for a second the edge of his pant leg.

She hated how he didn't react to it.

And she hated how she hated it.

…

A/N: Gentlemen's club scene next! Get excited! As I've written so far, there will be hidden scenes…much more will happen. ;)


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Continued love to all you wonderful people. I still can't believe what an amazing success this fic has been! (Even if it is potentially ending soon…*ducks for cover*) Please review! =D (since I am now officially NOT sick anymore, and can write this chap =) )

*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

…

**Ch.3—**

He could be wrong. He could be very, _very_ wrong, and he needed to remember that. But if his calculations were right, and they usually were when it came to Blair Waldorf, something was simmering just beneath the surface between them again. It was something he hadn't felt since their stolen kiss at the Macbeth interactive experience in the fall, and even then it had been out of more spite and just giving in so she'd move on.

No, this was different. This was blackout different. This was I-don't-hate-you-but-I-do-so-let's-have-piano-sex different. (Even if they were being openly oblivious to it.)

There was something prickling, something threatening to burst into flames at any second.

Unresolved sexual tension.

He was trying as hard as he could to keep it from being resolved in the _usual_ way, since he was no longer the Chuck that tried to seduce her at every turn. If he could – and he knew he was capable of it with his new priorities in mind – he would not let himself give in to the point where she would be cheating on Dan.

He was more than willing to give in to his desires, should the circumstances allow for it. In fact, he craved for it, and that tight little "Diana" dress she was wearing only fueled the urges built up inside him.

But she had to break things off with Dan first.

Chuck had always been strongly against cheating. He would be the first to admit that even though it was seen as just as bad or worse to have slept with Jenny right when they were about to get back together – and soon after they'd broken up – they hadn't been together. The details really didn't matter when it came down to it, but he still maintained that he didn't cheat.

And he wouldn't let her either. Not anymore. Not even if it was with Dan Humphrey, who he firmly believed had been more deviously manipulative in winning Blair over than he _ever_ had been in all his attempts to get her back.

He wouldn't let her cheat.

_But damn if she didn't look hot as hell in that dress._

He would, however, tease her. If he saw her becoming frustrated with his somewhat concealed attempts to physically draw her in _and_ make her jealous, he would stop and simply content himself with the fact that she was still physically attracted to him and that maybe that would be enough to make her think twice about being with Dan and not being with him. However much he'd wanted to tune it out, he had overheard some talk – or rather, not so subtly requested information from Nate, his new confidant on the Blair-Dan situation – that the new Brooklyn-UES couple hadn't exactly been successful in the bedroom the first time around.

That made him smirk, because _his_ first time with Blair had been so phenomenal that he'd been unable to get enough of her even as she left his limo, and it had soon become obvious that she felt the same way about him.

The fact that Dan apparently thought it was _Blair's_ fault that the sex was unsatisfactory made his blood boil, but then he told himself it was because she gave up trying to make it good because her newest love interest didn't measure up to the expectations she held up on the been-with-Chuck-Bass scale. It made him feel much better.

In the end though, that had only been the musings of a wishful thinker, a broken-hearted man too far in love with a girl who continued to bash him and refuse to believe he'd changed, even in his most heroic moments.

_This_ though, this was more substantial. This was literal proof.

He knew it even as her head dropped to his shoulder when they were still a good distance away from their destination.

…

It infuriated her. Yes, _infuriated_ her, she decided. It was so far past being annoying that she could have sworn he was doing it on purpose.

_No_, she chastised herself. That was ridiculous. He was a changed man now. He wasn't the old Chuck. She'd learned that the hard way this last time when she'd accused him of trying to buy her back.

She still felt guilty about that.

He was hardly touching her now and still she felt him. She felt the tension between them, or what she thought was the tension between them at least. It felt so thick and yet so delicate that she knew if she lit a match to it, it would burn like wildfire. Like a twig so dry, it would break if you laid two hands on it.

So she _wouldn't_ light a match, she told herself.

Not that that would be a problem.

She had no desire to light a match.

Obviously.

But – _was he swaying his hips?_

Her jaw dropped. She had to be imagining this.

Just like she had imagined him tucking a curl behind her ear as he woke her when they finally arrived to their destination. Just like she had imagined him walking extremely close to her and brushing their knuckles against each other for the first few feet after they got out of the limo. Just like she had imagined her head somehow ending up on his shoulder after she'd accidentally fallen asleep on the way there.

_Hey! Nate was doing it!_

Speaking of Nate, he seemed to be oblivious to all their interactions period. He was strangely very curious of the whole environment even before they stepped inside the building. She saw the fleeting amusement on his face once he realized they had entered into a sex club event. She could only imagine the look on Chuck's face.

_Ugh_. She was not pleased.

Especially when he went out of his way to turn the corner by walking as close to one of the sluts as he could, whispering a mere "'Scuse me," by way of an explanation.

'_Scuse me, my ass._ In her mind, her eyes were extremely narrowed and she was about to slap the bitch.

But only in her mind.

She resolved herself well enough when they finally reached the center of the room and Chuck turned back towards she and Nate to discuss the situation and what they would do next. It was then that she reminded herself, yet again, that he had changed. His eyes weren't lingering on any of the tramps, and in fact had only briefly zeroed in on what appeared to be a strange stamp on some guy's hands. He'd obviously seen it before.

She went back into scheming/helping mode, the same place she'd been in earlier today when she'd broken out her decoding swatch and then managed to break the complicated code in Diana's planner – when she _wasn't_ super aware of Chuck's presence beside her, which wasn't often, she admitted.

But then it happened, and she lost it. She knew she should have seen it coming. He was _extremely_ good looking after all, and _very_ well dressed. Even here, where likely no one knew who he was – as it seemed – a tramp occasionally glanced at him. (From the looks of it, they weren't supposed to look anywhere. They were like objects, and for a moment she pitied them for the situation they'd gotten themselves in.)

The dirty-piece-of-trash-hardly-worth-mentioning though clearly didn't know a Blair-Waldorf-who-would-kick-her-ass-for-staring-at-the-_past-tense_-love-of-her-life caught sight of Chuck, and Blair fumed – _inwardly_. At first. She eyed Chuck like a vulture eyes prey it knows is about to be killed.

"Hi. I'm Josephine. You look like you need a friend," the _trash_ said seductively.

She had _completely_ interrupted their conversation, Blair thought, annoyed. She almost scoffed. The trash was intolerable, and so obviously not worth Chuck's time, or theirs.

She looked to Nate for reassurance that she wasn't the only one feeling completely disgusted by the trash's presence, but it clearly wasn't felt by him. Amusement colored his face again, and no surprise by the attention Chuck was getting either either.

She frowned angrily, her bottom lip jutting out, but she managed to control herself. _Inwardly_, she took a deep breath and turned back towards Chuck, hoping he'd gotten rid of the unwanted specimen by then.

Nope. Still there. Hanging on his arm. And god help her, Chuck _so_ wasn't staring at her breasts.

_Hell. No._

"He _has_ a friend," Blair said forcefully, pushing past the trash, making her lose contact with Chuck and – Blair decided – almost lose her balance.

She almost flushed, because she knew the amusement on Nate's face was mirrored on Chuck's. She just _knew_ it.

But what she also knew was that she was touching Chuck again, her arm wrapped around his, and that she had a legitimate excuse to. His light touch also on the small of her back sent shivers up her spine.

The fire that had started to crackle between them again was hard to ignore, but she mustered enough strength to focus instead on whatever humiliation she could manage with the trash still standing in front of them, speaking to them.

"Then, why don't I show you the bedrooms? Both of you?"

Clearly her invasion had only briefly set the host-trash off balance, much to her chagrin.

"Yeah, let's…let's look around," Chuck said, shutting off Blair's angry, devious thoughts and reminding her that they were there on a _mission_, not because she was the jealous girlfriend attached at his hip and making sure his eyes didn't wander onto any of the scantily-clad ladies in this joint, unless of course he wanted his balls chopped off at the end of this venture.

Because she _wasn't_ the jealous girlfriend.

She was the _ex_-girlfriend who—

Nodding in response to the question the host-trash had presented to them seemed better than finishing her unsettling thoughts.

Soon they were following the host-trash down another hall, and Blair was ahead of Chuck, feeling much better about the situation, and especially confident about where she was and what she was doing.

There was no temptation of checking Chuck out from behind this time, because _she_ was the one in front of _him_. She could not be accused of any mental unfaithfulness in the physical department, or any department for that matter because he was not close enough to act gentlemanly towards her.

She smiled proudly at this fact…until she realized on turning a corner to another hall that _he_ was checking out _her_ from behind.

And there was no way she could confirm it without getting caught red-handed.

_Damn him and his lust-filled eyes on her tightly-covered plump little ass._

…

A/N: You really didn't think I'd go through the whole gentlemen's club scene(s) in one chap, did you? Silly, you! lol. But this chap was longer, so I still think I deserve a review. Please review! =) I shall try to update soon. Because honestly, this fic is so fun to write.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: ATTENTION, READERS! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do NOT review if you are a guest** (unless you have no pending questions/serious disagreements with something I've written/my opinion). If you write something in your review that I feel I need to address, it is very frustrating that the only way I can address it is by putting it in an author's note for the world to see and just hoping you'll see it, so I can clear the matter up. So, **PLEASE**, as much as I crave reviews, I don't crave them enough to feel like I can't get my point across the way I wanted it to be. Below is a response to a guest reviewer, so you can skip it if you are not the guest reviewer – _smiley_ that reviewed in chapter 2. And again, as always, thank-you SO much for all your lovely reviews & for reading! It means a lot! =D And sorry I took so long to update!

*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

…

**GUEST REVIEWER: SMILEY** – I understand where you're coming from on the cheating issue, but I do not believe I'm wrong on the Chuck cheating issue. First off, can you really count Chuck cheating on Blair at the end of season 1? Yes and no. Yes, because as far as Blair was concerned, they were still together, but no because when Chuck tossed out those roses, in his mind he was not showing up to the helipad and he was ending their relationship right there. His next move to sleep with Amelia, the interior designer, was just him returning to his old lifestyle, not him cheating in a relationship he was still in. And as far as his attempts to get her to cheat in S2? As far as Marcus goes, that wasn't a relationship that anyone was really taking that seriously, and besides that, every time Chuck tried to seduce her – no matter what he may have said or how he may have acted – he didn't see it as him getting Blair to cheat on her boyfriend. He saw it as her getting back together with _him_, as in _them_ reuniting. Personally though, I don't think he ever would've gone through with getting her to cheat on Nate in S2. He lost Nate once. He wasn't going to lose him again, if he could help it. He just wanted to tempt her thoroughly so that she'd come back to her senses and realize it was _him_ she wanted to be with, not Nate. When she cheated in 4x22…yes, that was cheating, but if you'll notice neither of them acknowledged it as that until Chuck made it clear they weren't going to get back together. The act in and of itself in the moment was _them_ deciding to be together again, not having a quick rendezvous and then her going back to Louis. That said, what I most meant when I said Chuck was against cheating in my last chap was that he was fiercely against not cheating on _Blair_, or rather that _he_ would never cheat, like I emphasized with the Jenny incident. Still, I fully believe everything else I've said on the matter in this note to you, so no, I'm definitely not going to reword Chuck's thoughts on that topic in the last chapter, because I truly don't believe what you think his views of cheating were are actually what they are. If you have more to say on this matter, sign up for an account on here & PM me or find me on twitter. My username is: chuckandblair90. But please don't enter in more of your thoughts about this in a guest review. I'd rather not broadcast it to everyone who reads my chapters, especially so I can prevent other people from chipping in on both sides. This is not a forum.

…

**Ch.4—**

By the time they reached the first bedroom, Blair couldn't feel her legs. The memory of Chuck's lustful stare on her backside refused to erase itself from her mind, and she wanted more than anything to have him either in front of her or exactly where she stood, so he couldn't stare at her ass in this cursed tight blue dress she wore.

Their hostess was saying something, but Blair couldn't comprehend. All she saw was a large room with a canopy bed and Chuck's heat even closer behind her. _Of course_ he wouldn't do his duty and come to stand beside – or away – from her. He was still behind her, _right_ behind her. She felt his hot breaths on her skin. Her arms erupted in goosebumps.

She cleared her throat and moved farther into the room, crossing her arms across her chest.

"It's a very nice room, but I think we'll pass," she said, giving their hostess a charming, fake smile. She had to remember the reason she was there. She had to play her part.

The woman raised her eyebrows and looked toward Chuck who appeared to be somewhat indecisive when Blair turned to look at him.

"_Chuck_."

He pretended to look still unsure, his eyes roving around the room as slowly as possible, trying to appreciate every design and every curve of every design and piece of furniture in the room. But she wasn't fooled. He was toying with her. She knew how very much he wanted to scour the house until they came face to face with Jack Bass.

He sighed, looking torn, and she rolled her eyes, irritated.

Finally, she made up her mind and strode across the room, making a quick promise to herself that she'd apologize for what she was about to do later, and yet that it was still completely justified because it was all a part of her role-play. She wouldn't take any more of Chuck's teasing. He was enjoying this far too much when they had a mission to accomplish.

For a second she paused, taking in his shocked expression as she wrapped her fingers tightly around the lapels of his jacket and pulled him to her, smashing their lips against each other.

At first his mouth was tensed, stiff, but in a heartbeat his lips relaxed and he began to deepen the kiss, unconsciously setting his hand on her waist as her hands pressed flat against his jacket.

Finally, she pulled back and stumbled back a step, shocked at how long the kiss fueled purely by irritancy had lasted. She turned to look at their hostess who stood with raised brows, probably just as shocked by Blair's abrupt move.

Blair cleared her throat, put more space between her and Chuck and then turned to look at him, face as pristine and cheerful, and demanding, as ever.

"Don't you think we should check out some of the other rooms before we make our final decision?" she asked innocently, putting as much effort into her voice so that she wouldn't squeak. If they were still dating, she'd prod him further by allowing her hand to lower towards his crotch. Even thinking that now put her in the danger zone. She had to keep her mind clear if she was going to get anything accomplished. Nothing good would come of Chuck knowing he held power over her while she was involved in another relationship.

Chuck's eyes were hungry and his mouth hung open, as if he was trying very hard to breathe and not able to receive enough oxygen.

"_Chuck_," she demanded.

He blinked, shook his head and then straightened himself and his jacket, as if he'd just been through a tornado. Truth was, she'd barely touched him, and he her.

He cleared his throat.

"Yes, I…think that's a good idea." He forced a smile and gestured for her to walk ahead.

Blair smiled warmly and followed his direction, cursing herself afterwards that she'd let him walk behind her again. She focused her returned irritation on their hostess who was still looking oddly at the pair even as she turned to lead them out of the room and further down the hall to show further options.

….

She could have grabbed his hand and pulled him along like the Queen Bee she was. She could have stomped on his foot or simply moved on, assuming he'd follow.

But no, she'd chosen the more aggressive, very risky move. She'd full on kissed him as if she intended to take him right there on the brothel floor with the third class, too tall hostess trash watching them.

_Not that he'd mind._

No. _Stop_.

Teasing her had been a mistake. A _big_ one. He should've stopped as soon as her response to him had become obvious. She was still attracted to him, physically at least. He should be cheered by that, and he was. But once he started it had been hard to stop. There was just something very addicting about watching her squirm.

But never had he expected her to kiss him. Not in a million years. Not while dating Dan, and not after having told him she wasn't in love with him anymore. Not when she'd harassed him and refused to believe in him or even give him the benefit of the doubt just a few weeks ago.

But here she was, and he couldn't stop thinking about it. From room to room, glancing at one bed and then another, passing scantily clad women that didn't have a thing on Blair, he was finding it hard to walk.

He couldn't stop staring at her either. More often than not his eyes were transfixed on her ass, her luxurious silk hair that cascaded down her neck and those legs that went on forever due to her higher than high heels. The desire to kiss her was almost overwhelming.

He almost ran into her in the previous room.

She, however, now appeared to be completely unaffected by him, waltzing from one room to the next as if she was having the time of her life and on nothing more than a school fieldtrip.

"I'm sorry," their hostess interrupted his thoughts, apologizing for what felt like the thousandth time. "I thought you loved that last room, especially the canopy bed? You look like the type that likes a royal theme."

Chuck forced himself to focus on the task at hand with Blair's "Not anymore." He didn't know whether she was referring to them or her and Louis but it was enough to make him snap into gear.

"Perhaps we should extend our search to beyond just bedrooms," he offered.

Blair jumped at the bit. "Ah, yes!" she said, instantly warming to the topic. "Any dark, small space will do. Closet?"

_Pant. Pant. Two junior-year high school students pressed hot and heavy amongst the coats in the hall closet during one of Eleanor Waldorf's society parties._

"Attic?"

"_Chuck, this place is disgusting. There are cobwebs everywhere!" She scrunched up her nose in disgust, her school uniform having gotten caught in another jagged crack on the long, winding staircase._

"_It's spotless, Waldorf." He moved in on her. "You just don't like that I talked you into a quickie in the attic of one of my father's old buildings."_

"_It's the headmistress's house, you ass." She smacked him, but he used the action to grab her arm and pull her closer, thrilling in her little girl pout and narrowed eyes._

"_Still one of my father's old buildings. At the beginning he only sold houses. Scandalous, don't you think?" he breathed right against her lips._

_She rolled her eyes, acting unaffected by the seduction in his voice._

"_Kiss me," he demanded, spreading his fingers across her thinly covered stomached._

_Her lips parted and she looked almost outraged, but then her eyes dropped to his lips and she grabbed two fistfuls of his jacket, setting loose the fire that always crackled between them._

"The wine cellar?"

_She was going to kill him._

_That_ one had been beneath the hotel where Bart and Lily got married, where they were supposed to be 'taking it slow'.

"We might not have time to see the whole house…" their hostess began, unsure and maybe a little concerned as to what she'd gotten herself into.

Of course, Blair paid no heed.

"The whole house! We'd love to. Every room, even the occupied ones," she said, cheerily, moving past the both of them as she proceeded to make her own tour of the house.

"She likes to watch," Chuck said, displaying the amused cockiness that always defined their role-play, at least on his part. Blair was more cheerfully demanding. It was a lighter version of how she was normally.

_God, he missed that about her._

He relished in the hostess's reaction for a brief half-second before he strode after Blair with a quickened pace. There was something about this whole…_experience_ that made his heart race. And he couldn't help but blame it at least halfway on that tight dress that he couldn't stop staring at.

_Damn Blair and her passion to play the part._

…

"_The dumbwaiter has potential…"_

_Damn right, it does._

"_One of us would have to stand."_

He groaned inwardly._ And it would be fantastic._

So, Blair had gone off in another direction after they'd run into Serena. He knew it was for the best. They'd cover more ground this way, and their hostess hadn't been overly suspicious. She'd come to understand them even in this short time and she wasn't about to question anything else about their highly unusual behavior. It was probably making perfect sense to her now why they'd chosen to spend their night fucking in a brothel out in the middle of nowhere instead of a high class hotel in the city. _Money wasn't the issue, obviously._

_They were a sexually adventurous couple._

He groaned, out loud this time. Because they _had_ been. And he missed it.

Their hostess stopped when he stopped, lost in his thoughts. When he turned to look at her she was looking at him curiously and he forced a tight smile.

"Something wrong?" she asked when he didn't say anything. "Did you like that room?"

She sounded hopeful.

He hesitated. "You know, I think I did." It was not his imagination. The woman looked relieved. "Why don't you polish it up a bit more while I go to find Blair?" He smiled charmingly and left her before she could respond.

A couple corners and hallways later, after searching nearly every room for any sign of Jack – and in the back of his mind, Blair – he found himself frozen to the spot as he and Blair turned down the same hall from opposite ends and both stopped on seeing each other suddenly.

It shouldn't have been shocking, but it was. Because she'd kissed him, and she'd left first, and it was becoming harder and harder to restrain himself and keep his mind on Jack.

"Have you seen Diana?" he asked, shaking himself of the thoughts that refused to be rid of.

Suddenly she looked defeated, her shoulders slouched as she walked toward him.

"No. But I think we're still safe." She crossed her arms across her chest when she reached him, coming to another stop. Her breasts pushed together slightly and he nearly lost his composure. "Have you seen Jack?" she asked, ignoring how he looking at her.

He shook his head as his eyes quickly flickered away from beneath her neck.

"No. I haven't," he sighed, for the first time admitting some frustration on that front.

"Keep looking," she said. "We'll find him." She offered a soft, warm smile when he returned her gaze.

He nodded and let her pass him.

"Blair," he said, before she was out of reach. She turned to face him, asking the question with her eyes. He wanted to interrogate her about why she had kissed him, but he knew what she'd say and something told him it was all futile to find out the motivations of a girl in deep denial.

So he thanked her instead and they continued down their separate ways.

…..

A/N: Review, pretty, pretty please? *bats eyelashes innocently* Think you know what's coming? Maybe you do…maybe you haven't the slightest idea. Hehe.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thank-you, my ever faithful readers/reviewers for your patience. A new arc begins this chap, so turn back while you can! (if you want to ;) It's your last chance! =P) Also, I must warn you that the first half of this chap is a DB scene and it is not entirely…venomous. You've been warned.

*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

…

**Ch.5—**

When she looked back on this moment sometime in the distant future, she wanted to remember that she had been shaking from the shocking image she'd just encountered. But she knew that would be a flat out lie based on the simple fact that she wasn't even aware that her legs were moving. She'd gone numb. Completely. And her mind was screaming on what kind of bald-faced lie she would have to come up with to keep Chuck from knowing the truth.

_Bart Bass? Alive?_

It was surreal. The effects his 'death' had had on Chuck had pained her as much as they had pained him. It was a horrible time in both of their lives where they not only lost each other, they lost themselves. It had taken a lot to come back from that crash course on dealing with grief.

She couldn't tell Chuck she didn't know anything, hadn't learned anything new, hadn't stumbled upon the most shocking evidence of a resurrection she'd ever seen. And, truth be told, that was all she knew. She hadn't the slightest idea what Bart was doing here. Jack had been no help, and he'd been angry. She'd never seen that side of him before.

Amidst the brothel staff and gentlemen callers, she was pushed outside into the darkness. The movement of those around her was the only thing that actually got her out of the perimeter. She felt intoxicated, like she couldn't breathe, and not in the way she'd felt with Chuck all evening. This was panic. When she was finally free of the people surrounding her and out into the open, the claustrophobia finally left her.

As she was recovering, breathing deeply as she leaned over, her hands on her knees as she stared into the ground that had blurred her shoes and the grass, she came to the conclusion that maybe she wouldn't have to lie to Chuck after all. Maybe she could just act the tired part – which technically wasn't a lie, since she was very much tired.

Amidst the sexual tension simmering between them all night, there had been moments where Chuck had been very aware to her distress in those few moments she had it and been eager to attend to her needs. The plan was simple enough. She could determine the outcome pretty well.

One more deep breath and she'd straightened herself upright again, taking one more moment to clear her head before heading back and hopefully finding Chuck at his limo where her plan could be safely carried out. It would be inconvenient if Nate and/or Serena had other plans for the evening, but they easier to convince than Chuck, and she was telling the truth, so it made sense that they'd believe her and comply. She hoped at least.

She was just about to turn back when a light caught her eye. It was coming from a car at the far end of the grassy lot on the other side of the street. A cab, a taxi – _here_? It surprised for some reason. Why would someone be out here in the middle of nowhere sitting in a cab? It was logical of course that any one of the men here might have taken a cab to attend the event, though most of them looked pretty well off. The mere appearance of their clothing suggested wealth, and the stamp on the inside of their wrists clearly suggested some sort of secret, elite club. Sparing a glance to the full parking lot, she even noticed how most of the vehicles were either limos or some high-end car. She recalled then how the woman on the phone had asked if they wanted to be picked up in a car for the event this evening, which explained why all the cars looked so identical.

Yes, there was definitely something fishy about that cab sitting just across the street. With the light on. With a _person_ in the back seat. And when the light suddenly switched off as she took a few steps closer to get a better look, she knew something was up, and she felt the need to investigate.

The person in the back seat was obviously stupid. He slunk down so he couldn't be seen from the window instead of just simply driving off. The taxi driver clearly had no brains either. Though maybe he'd let the orders from the idiotic passenger guide his senses.

Any nerves she initially felt dissolved as she came up to the cab and saw the person huddling in the back seat, turning away and covering his face. He looked oddly familiar, but she couldn't remember from where. It didn't matter though. The senseless stalker hadn't even bothered to lock his door.

"Hey, Miss-" the driver tried to interject, but there was no need. She took a step back and gawked at the passenger who now let himself be seen. She could barely get the single word out of her mouth.

"_Dan?_"

He blinked and smiled nervously. It was clear he hadn't the slightest idea on what to say. There was no excuse in the world he could use to explain his presence there. Except for the obvious one, which she really didn't need right now. The last thing her nerves could take at that moment was Dan being jealous over her innocent scheming with Chuck.

"Hey, Blair," he finally said, clearly trying to keep eye contact and failing. Though she did not have the slightest problem whatsoever, at least with keeping her eyes on his face.

"What are you…how are you…?" Her brain wasn't functioning. All it told her was to scream because thinking about what was right in front of her was just too hard.

Dan sighed, and that set her off.

"_Speak_, Humphrey!" she demanded.

He made a mental note that while she had switched to using his first name regularly, she could easily fall back into using his last name when angry.

"I…"

She sighed angrily and crossed her arms across her chest. "_Please_ tell me you didn't follow me here because I told you I was with Chuck." Her eyes narrowed and her nails dug into her coat sleeves, clear proof she was not pleased.

He didn't say anything for awhile, but just as she was about to call him out on it again, he said, "What was I supposed to do, Blair? It's _Chuck_."

She shook her head and scoffed. "You were supposed to _trust_ me."

He looked down, guilty, and scolding himself now for not just heeding his father's advice on the phone twenty minutes earlier. When he looked up at her again, her lips were pursed tightly and she was looking out into the darkness. She didn't want to be in on this conversation any more than he did, but it needed to be talked about.

"You get back with Chuck every year, Blair," he said weakly, but earnestly. Her eyes flashed to his, but the anger subsided slightly at his comment. The worry in his voice cooled her fires somewhat. "And right about this time too. It's impossible for the two of you to be friends without…" he broke off.

"Without what?" she asked, trying very hard to keep herself from seething.

He looked deep into her eyes and climbed out of the car. She didn't back away as he approached her.

"You know what, Blair," he said softly. She averted her eyes.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, still looking away. "Your actions tonight are completely uncalled for."

"Are they?" he asked, turning her head towards his. Again, her irritated gaze softened before his desperate face.

She sighed. "You are not every other guy I've dated, Dan." She pulled his hand away and held it in her own. "I'm not going to go running back to Chuck this time."

"Are you sure?" he asked, still uncertain. "I mean…nothing happened tonight between the two of you? You didn't…feel anything?"

A flash of heat ran through her, desire, from every time Chuck had looked at her and touched her, even if it had crossed no bounds. _Minus the kiss_. But that was not something she planned on telling Dan. Not right now at least.

"Nothing," she said assuredly. Then she cupped his face and he leaned down to kiss her. She stopped him before he reached her lips. "But you have to trust me, okay?"

He nodded and leaned his forehead against hers as she closed her eyes. "Okay."

Relief flooded through her. He didn't know and he trusted her now. At least it sounded like he did, but then it sounded like nothing had happened between her and Chuck too, so how could she really know how stable her relationship with Dan was?

It had been so much easier before she got involved with Chuck…in _any_ capacity.

But it always that way. Chuck…complicated things.

"Are you done here?" he murmured. "Wanna come home with me?"

She smirked. "Not tonight, Humphrey. There's a little more I have to sort out before I come back to the city." Slowly, she pulled away.

"I can wait for you," he offered.

"It might be awhile," she said.

"I can wait," he said again, softly, earnestly.

"There's no need. You'll run out of money," she assured him.

Dan turned to look back at the cab driver who was now watching him impatiently. He chuckled.

"Maybe you're right."

She smiled and stepped forward one more time. "Of course I am." She kissed him briefly and then pulled away. "Now run along, Humphrey. I'll see you tomorrow."

He watched her as she turned around and walked back towards the large building, a mass of people still standing around in the parking lot. Even from this distance he could tell most of the women were very scantily dressed. _What kind of scheme was going on here? _The last time Blair had been in this kind of environment – albeit not as extreme – she had lost her virginity to Chuck.

The unsettling feeling grew even as he slid back into the car and watched Blair's shrinking form walking further away.

"Are we going or not, kid?"

Dan felt sick. Incredibly so. He knew he should go home, sleep and that it would be all better in the morning. He had to trust her. He _had_ to. He couldn't let his mind flash back to all the times when Blair had left her boyfriends or cheated on them with Chuck right about this time every year. It was clockwork. The black-out incident was an exception.

His mind didn't listen. All common sense gone.

"No," he said, almost too quietly for the cab driver to hear him. But he did, because Dan heard him sigh loudly in response. "We're going closer."

"Longest night of my life," the driver muttered, turning the car around in the street and driving around the back toward the looming building.

…

She should've been glad for how her encounter with Dan had ended, ecstatic even. She hadn't gone ballistic when she'd found out the reason he was hiding out in the street. Sure, she'd been pissed, but it could have gone worse, and of course she knew where he was coming from, so that helped. Plus, he was different than the other guys she'd been with. Dan understood her. That was what mattered. And he'd never hurt her either. An even bigger plus. She'd made it clear though that she wasn't in love with Chuck anymore, and she _wasn't_. So, she was a little angry that Dan couldn't just trust her.

If he knew all the details of the night, he probably would've been justified though. Her renewed intense physical attraction to Chuck might serve to be a problem. There was point in denying it any longer, and telling Chuck they should keep a safe distance from each other because of it would only make him more aware of it that he already must be. Confessions like that tended to make things official.

The guilt weighed heavy on her, but the closer she came to the brothel, the more she was reminded of the seriousness of what had happened inside it. A lump formed in her throat when she realized she still had to give her excuse to Chuck in order to get them to leave.

Just a few feet away, Chuck saw her coming, starting to ask her questions about either Nate, Serena or Lola. She couldn't clarify which, so she just answered with what sounded the most correct.

"No, I haven't."

"What's wrong?" he asked when she neared him, concern written all over his face.

_Damn him_. He always knew when there was something else going on. What was worse was he touched the hand tucked into her elbow in a way of comfort but it only sent a shock through her system, reminding her of all the times he'd comforted her before. The biggest flash went all the way back to her seventeenth birthday party when she'd taken his hand off her necklace and held it in her own. She could almost feel the burn of his kiss on her shoulder from years ago as he searched her eyes now for an answer.

"Nothing. I'm sorry," she said, hoping he wouldn't sense how weak she was, both for him and for confessing all that she knew.

"You look like you just found out Jack Bass is your father." A touch of a smile lit his lips and a quiet chuckle. She almost laughed herself because what he thought was true was so far from the truth it made her want to scream, because how could she keep something this big from him for long? He would hate her for it when he finally found out. Because there was no _if_ really when it came to Chuck Bass.

"Chuck, can we just go, please?" she begged, her eyes pleading with him more than her voice.

His face grew very serious. "After everything we've been through…there's no room for secrets, nor should there be. Whatever it is, you can tell me, Blair. It's just us here, you and me."

He was so honest, so sincere, so willing to help her with whatever was troubling her and torturing her soul. And he didn't even know what it was. He wasn't trying to manipulate the situation to get her to admit she still loved him either – that she was _physically attracted_ to him rather. He was just trying to be there for her.

She was tensed now, and she wondered if he could feel it. He was still touching her hand, still encouraging her to open up as best he could. It took an enormous amount of willpower to keep herself from screaming and answer calmly because that's all that her body was telling her to do.

_You've complicated things enough by being here._

Jack's angry voice resonated through her, but as she looked back at Chuck she knew what she had to do. She couldn't keep this from him. Not after all they'd been through. And not as a decent human being either. You didn't hide the truth from someone because you were afraid that might get hurt.

She wouldn't apply that to the other issue bobbing about in her mind.

"I think…" she began slowly, "once everyone is gone and it's quiet…you need to go back into that house."

He looked subtly shaken by her words, just barely managing a nod. "Have Arthur take you back to the city."

She forced a weak smile and moved past him as his eyes flitted to the giant building overhead.

Once inside the car, she exhaled deeply, letting her head rest on the soft leather cushioning. She spread her hand across the seat until she found the spot where Chuck had sat. There was still some heat there and she wondered if he had been sitting here recently. It hadn't seemed so.

She lowered the window between herself and Arthur.

"One of these seats is warm," she said, confused. Arthur only smiled.

"Mr. Bass likes to keep his seat heated."

Her jaw dropped and her lips curved into an amused and delicious smile. "These are heated seats?" she asked, shocked.

"A new installment," he assured her and winked.

She shook her head and moved her hand across the seats back and forth a few times. "Too bad. I wish they had been installed when-" She stopped herself, her eyes widening as she realized what she was about to confide.

Not that Arthur didn't already know.

"Is the young Mr. Bass coming?" he asked, just as she was clearing her throat to rid herself of the awkwardness that she felt had settled around her. "Or am I just to take you home?"

She remembered Chuck's words, and her current situation regarding all parties and the events of tonight, and reconsidered completely. It might not get her anywhere good, but this was a big step for Chuck, and if he pushed her away after tonight she would know for sure that there were some things about him that never changed and she was right to remain in Dan's embrace.

"No."

He raised his eyebrows.

She shook her head, smiling to herself at how very unclear she'd been.

"Chuck isn't coming, but…don't take me home."

He looked at her confused in the mirror.

"Just…drive into the street and then come back around to just beyond those bushes at the back entrance. I have a feeling he'll need someone to talk to when he's finally ready to go home."

Arthur smiled. "As you wish, Miss Waldorf."

She pressed the button to close the tinted window between them, so he wouldn't see how her face flushed in the darkness.

…

A/N: This kind of didn't go in the direction I originally intended, but I like it and maybe some of the same things will happen in the next chap. Please review! Hope you'll keep reading! =P


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Thanks for the wait. Hope you enjoy. =)

*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

…...

**Ch.6—**

She didn't know how much time had passed but the sun's rays slowly made their way over the horizon and woke her from where she sat in the back seat of the car.

"Arthur?" she called out groggily, feeling around blindly for the button to lower the window between them with her eyes half-closed.

"Yes, Miss Waldorf?" he asked, lowering the window himself and sounding as normal as ever.

She could recall him sounding this alert in the past too. She wondered if he ever slept.

Maybe he took one of those five hour energy drinks when he got tired. Every five hours.

"Did he come out?" she asked on a yawn.

"Not yet," he said. "Would you like me to take you home now?"

She shook her head and snuggled against the window frame in an attempt to get as comfortable as possible.

"Nope. I'm going to wait for him."

"Very well. Would you like me to keep the window open between us?"

He muttered something unintelligible.

"Miss Waldorf?"

"Hmm?" she murmured sleepily.

He smiled a little and decided to keep it open. "Shall I tell you when Mr. Bass emerges?" he teased lightly.

She chuckled a little, even in her limbo state. "Junior Bass," she muttered.

Arthur's brows furrowed. "I beg your pardon?"

"Yes," she said, sighing. "Let me know."

He decided to close the window between them.

…

When the meter passed $500 at 1 a.m., Dan decided to go home. He would still have to explain himself to his father – again – but at least he hadn't passed the $1,000 mark. Maybe his little fit of mistrust and jealousy would be put to rest. Rufus had already given him his fatherly advice about just trusting Blair. If Dan was clever, she wouldn't even find out that he'd stayed long after they said their goodbyes.

Scheming with Blair in the past year for various things made her better equipped this evening. He'd gotten close enough and kept his eyes plastered on his girl's form long enough to see her slip into Chuck's limo and wait just on the other side of the bushes where he was parked at the back entrance of the building. He was taking a risk just staying there, but when her limo didn't budge for another hour, he decided to risk the possibility that she was asleep and leave himself.

It made him nervous. Ever since he saw Blair standing across from Chuck talking to him about something apparently very intense – since he _held her hand_ to probably _comfort_ her – he hadn't been able to get the visual out of his head. He began to think that maybe he'd looked away for a second and Chuck had returned and was getting _reacquainted_ with Blair in the back seat of the limo.

The way he'd gotten _acquainted_ with her the first time.

_No_. _Stop it, Humphrey. She is not cheating on you. She loves you._

_Right?_

There was a part of him that had been waiting for the perfect moment to tell her how deep his feelings ran, but mostly he assumed she'd figured it out when he kissed her at Nate's Valentine's Day Party.

That kiss had been complicated, and there had been no real time for explanations about what it all meant – extensively – since she'd denied him instantly on account of Serena. (Because obviously she'd admitted to him soon enough that she did have feelings for him and was just denying it for the sake of Serena and that it was such a surprise to her that she liked him like that to begin with.)

It had surprised him too. He hadn't expected to fall for Blair Waldorf.

He had expected to wait until Serena was ready and then they would be together, and then that would be it for them. He had truly believed that.

But things had changed. He'd seen Blair in a new light, and suddenly hurting Serena was only bad if it hurt Blair too.

That was an unsettling thought when he got right down to it, but he tried not to focus on it since obviously his real problem was his paranoia about Blair getting back with Chuck. Blair was loyal to the core, but ever since she'd fallen in love with Chuck, he had been the exception.

He didn't know when it had happened that he knew Blair so well, that he knew how she ticked. He thought only Serena knew that, and maybe Chuck. But that internship had changed everything. It had inevitably made him Blair's best friend when Serena wasn't present. And it had tortured him just listening to her gush about Louis, and Chuck, and anyone that wasn't him. It hadn't even been until they became a couple that she lessened her verbal abuse of him.

He wondered if it had been an act all along and she'd liked him since the beginning.

Well, not since their first kiss, since whether he'd wanted to admit it at the time, he knew she didn't feel the same way.

Which left him with the predicament of when exactly she'd developed _feelings_ for him. And how exactly Chuck didn't have her heart anymore and he did – Dan Humphrey, the guy she'd hated for three years and only tolerated because he was with her best friend, and now who she was just friends with.

Not that he was complaining. Up until he'd seen Chuck start to feel threatened when he tried to sabotage the first draft of his second novel, he hadn't thought he had a chance.

Somehow though he'd beaten the great Chuck Bass at winning Blair Waldorf. He'd _won_. He'd gotten the one thing that for the last year he had only dreamed about having.

It made no sense how he'd accomplished the feat, but again, he wasn't about to complain.

He walked through the door at 2 a.m. and silently closed it behind him. There was one dim light on in the kitchen, and surprisingly he found his father asleep on the couch, half falling off the piece of furniture that he just barely fit on.

He was softly snoring and Dan took that as his cue to continue very quietly to his room.

"Lily?" Rufus murmured, obviously aware of some presence in the room.

Dan frowned briefly, realizing that his father hadn't told him the exact details of his recent dispute with his wife. He wanted to know why, but Rufus had been giving him so much advice on how to successfully maintain his relationship with Blair that he hadn't pushed.

"Dan?" Rufus blinked, rubbing his eyes.

Dan tried not to sigh too loudly. He took a blanket from the other side of the room and brought it back to his dad, covering him with it.

"Thanks," he said, looking at the blanket slightly confused.

"Why aren't you in bed?" Dan asked.

"I…" he sat up slowly. "I don't know." He half-laughed, and then it registered on his face. "I guess I was looking through some old photo albums."

Dan shifted his gaze to the box of photographs in the large cardboard box sitting in front of the couch. He was about to start asking questions, maybe offer some advice or just food for thought, or maybe food in general, but it was late and he was concerned with avoiding any talk of Blair.

So, he just held out his hand, encouraging his father to take it. "Come on, you should sleep in your bed."

He nodded reluctantly and stood up without his son's help. "What time is it?" he asked.

"Uh…" Dan quickly checked his watch. "12:30," he lied. It wouldn't be good if his father knew just how long it had taken him to come home. It would sound suspicious, and for good reason too.

"Didn't we talk at 11?" he asked, confused.

Dan cleared his throat. "It was far away."

Rufus nodded, clearly accepting it. "Glad you took my advice." He halted just before reaching his bedroom and smiled briefly at his son. "You'll be glad you did."

Dan's gaze slanted away momentarily. "Goodnight, Dad."

"Goodnight, Dan."

Quickly, Dan retreated to his bedroom and shut the door as soon as heard his father collapse onto his own bed. He felt guilty, and from experience he knew that sometimes a good night's sleep didn't cure that, but he was willing to give it a shot.

It was late. He needed sleep – and to trust Blair, he told himself.

Hopefully he would remember that in the morning. The _later_ morning.

…

Blair moaned softly in her sleep. She was still tired, but she hadn't been able to fall completely asleep and when she heard the gentle click of the button lowering the window between her and Arthur, she sat up instantly, as if she wasn't tired at all.

"Miss Wald-"

"I see him!" she said suddenly, peering out the window, her hand flat against the glass, a print causing some of the foggy moisture to soak into her hand.

Without another word, she opened the door and ran out into the opening where the front door was. Chuck was shaking off two men in black suits roughly manhandling him. They were about to lead him to one of the few cars still remaining in the parking lot, but she intervened.

"Chuck!"

He spun around and the two men looked at each other.

"_Blair?_ What are you still doing here?" he asked, surprised.

She sighed in relief and smiled slightly, realizing she'd been scared to death that he'd be mad at her for staying.

"I thought-" she stopped, not wanting the two security men to eavesdrop on their entire conversation. She glanced at them. Chuck turned his head to wear her eyes were focused and waved the men off. Reluctantly they went back into the house.

Then he turned back to Blair, his eyes still asking a million questions.

She sighed again. "I thought you might need someone to talk to."

He still looked at her confused, like that was the last thing he had expected. She told herself she shouldn't have felt offended, especially after how much she'd helped him tonight. _And_, she reminded herself, before tonight she hadn't been very _helpful_, so she forged onward instead.

"I couldn't just _leave_ you," she said earnestly, her eyes telling him it was the honest truth.

"Blair…" He shook his head slightly, still trying to comprehend the fact that she had stayed.

"You did…" she paused, wondering for a second if he had found what she had implied might be a surprising revelation at the end of a long hall in that looming building. "You did find it, right?"

Chuck nodded, deciding to move past his shock. "My father. He's alive."

She moved closer, pulling her hands into her sleeves and crossing her arms across her chest. She was suddenly very cold.

"Did he tell you what happened?" she asked.

"Yeah." He scoffed. "He told me." He looked completely disgusted with that fact.

"Do you want to…talk about it?" she asked gently.

Chuck contemplated it and then looked at her, suddenly realizing she was shivering and that the temperature had dropped.

"You must be freezing," he said, changing the subject briefly as he closed the distance between them and ran his hands up and down her covered arms.

"A little," she admitted, her lips curving into a tiny smile.

He returned her smile and slid his arm around her waist, turning her in the opposite direction.

"Come on, let's get you inside the warm, heated car and I'll tell you."

Her smile spread a little, and she realized she'd gotten a huge thrill out of accomplishing her goal. He was going to tell her. He was going to tell her everything. She could feel it. It was different this time. He wasn't pushing her away.

She didn't let herself think about what that meant concerning her feelings. She was here as a _friend_. That was all that mattered now.

"Mr. Bass," Arthur acknowledged when they slipped into the limo, the window between them already down.

"Arthur." Chuck nodded in response. "Take us back to the city."

"Certainly," he affirmed.

Chuck closed the window between them and sunk into his seat. When he didn't say anything for awhile, Blair slid her hand into his and he felt his eyes drawn to her gentle hold on him.

"Chuck?"

He turned to look at her.

"What happened?" she asked, her eyes searching his for the answers to her questions.

His lips parted, trying to put into words everything he had just learned.

"Why did he abandon you?" she suddenly demanded, her brows furrowing slightly.

He nearly lost his breath. After recent events, he just wasn't used to this amount of _caring_ from Blair.

Again, he tried to clear his mind to find the words to say.

Blair tilted her head to the side. "Chuck?" she asked again, the anger in her voice gone.

He steeled himself for the next moment, telling himself to be brave even as his own emotions were churning inside him.

"He was threatened."

Her stare pierced right through him.

"The car crash was a set-up and was supposed to kill him."

Her eyes widened in shock, and unknowingly her hand tightened on his and she brought her other hand around to clasp over his.

"When he survived it, he went into hiding because these…business competitors of his would have gone after Lily and me next."

Her lips parted.

"I guess when Lily told the hospital to call Jack, Jack called my father and so he came to give blood, so I wouldn't die. But now he's leaving again. Tomorrow."

"But…" her brows furrowed, a million angry emotions rushing through her. "That's not…"

"I know," he confirmed, sinking back further into the seat.

In her own shock, Blair's hands slipped off of his. "That's not _fair_," she finished her thought.

"I know," he murmured.

She sunk back into her seat.

After a long, heavy silence she turned to him and asked softly, "What are you going to do?"

In the short time, he'd thought about it and now he was sure. Not just of what he was going to do, but Blair's involvement in it. How she'd received him now, the fact that she'd _stayed_, said more than words ever could.

So, he turned to her and looked at her very seriously.

"I need your help."

She grabbed his hands again and this time held them between them, intertwining their fingers. She nodded reassuringly.

"Anything."

Hesitantly, wondering if this was crossing any bounds, he lifted one of his hands to her face and rested it against the cool skin slowly starting to warm. She closed her eyes at his touch, leaning into his hand.

He swallowed and made his decision. He leaned forward and pressed a feather light kiss to her cheek. She gasped and their eyes met in the longest three seconds of their lives. She could feel his breath on her skin, further heating the blood in her veins. She was drowning in his eyes as her heart beat faster in her chest.

"It's going to be okay," she whispered, wondering how she could even speak while his eyes still bore so intensely into hers.

He didn't move, and she knew, just _knew_, he was trying very hard not to kiss her. What he didn't know though was that she was trying just as hard not to kiss him.

She could use the excuse of him needing comforting, she thought. That was justifiable.

But she knew it wasn't. So she wrapped her arms around his neck instead and scooted closer, molding her body to his.

"We'll fight this," she murmured into his chest.

His hands wound around her waist and he pulled her closer still.

"You won't lose him again," she promised. And he believed her. Because she was clouding his senses and he wanted to kiss her, and she had always, _always_ believed in him. "I won't let you," she whispered and then pulled back slightly. "I promise."

His eyes were wide with the enormity of what she was saying, but he could only nod because she was wrapping herself around him again, pulling herself as close as was possible, as if _she_ was the devastated one mourning the loss of a loved one and she needed _his_ comfort.

"Thank-you," was all he managed to say.

Because what else could he say? She was acting like she loved him.

…

A/N: Thoughts? =) Please review!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I've had half this chapter in my head since I posted my last chap, but things kept coming up. :/ Hope you still review! I think you're gonna like this one. ;)

*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

…

**Ch.7—**

He didn't want to wake her. He didn't want to break this moment, even if it wasn't a moment for her because she was still asleep. It was precious to him. Her warmth snuggled against the side of his body as one arm draped over his shoulder. The hairs on the top of her head tickled his chin. He could feel her steady breathing on his chest, even thought the shirt and jacket.

Right now, right here, she was like a child coddled up against him. The way she was loosely clinging to him made him feel like he was saving her from something, like she'd finally let him save her from herself – or from whatever else might be plaguing her.

He couldn't remember the last time she gave him that privilege.

It hurt, not having that. It hurt not having her. It drove him crazy how both emotionally and physically she'd gotten him worked up just by scheming and then their time of comfort.

She'd _stayed_. He couldn't believe it. When he'd told her to tell Arthur to take her back to the city, she'd seemed agreeable to it, and if for no other reason, Dan would certainly not be pleased to hear his girlfriend had spent the night with her ex in the middle of nowhere.

He didn't understand it. He was overjoyed and confused to the point where he wondered why he wasn't completely losing it. He'd felt the sexual tension between them all night, the flirtatious banter that went back and forth – and then she'd _kissed_ him. He knew she would put the excuse of her just role-playing to it, even if he knew very well she could have gotten him to cooperate using other means, but that _almost-kiss_ that froze his entire universe just after they'd left the brothel… there was no mistaking the energy between them. It wasn't role-playing, and it _wasn't_ just physical. She was _comforting_ him. The pure emotion in her eyes was earth-shattering. And if it had been intended as a kiss out of sympathy – or worse, pity – she would've done it.

But she hadn't.

There could only be one explanation for that.

She considered it _cheating_. And Blair wasn't one to cheat, not unless something was missing. There had to be feelings involved. There _had_ to be.

He knew the signs. It was by her words alone that he wouldn't believe fully that she wasn't in love with anymore.

"…_and I love you…but that doesn't mean I'm in love with you."_

Those words haunted him, and only caused more confusion to him now. If Blair was in love with him again, there didn't seem to be a point to her continuing her relationship with Dan and coming back to him. There was a magnetism between them, just like he'd always known, like he'd told her a hundred times before.

"Blair," he murmured, nudging her gently. Whether he wanted to or not, he couldn't spend the whole day watching Blair sleep in the back seat of his limo. Not only would it continue to drive him insane, but he only had roughly 24 hours to figure out how to save his father. Letting Blair get some sleep in her own bed would give him some time away from her in order to recuperate from the mess that was suddenly the two of them and set a solid plan in motion before he called her again to his aid.

She mumbled something unintelligible and turned her head further into him, the fingers on her outstretched hand curling around the curve of his jacket.

When she unknowingly slipped one of her legs over his knee so that it was settled snugly almost up to his crotch he nearly lost his breath.

"Blair," he said again, this time a little louder, with more difficulty and physically prying her off of him.

"_What_?" she whined, firmly keeping her eyes closed to avoid waking up even as he held her upright, both away from him and away from the back of the seat.

"We're here."

She blinked a few times and looked out the window, seeing the entrance to her building. She blinked a few more times and rubbed her eyes before turning her head towards Chuck, seemingly oblivious to how stifled he looked with half her body looming over his as she propped her hand on the other side of him to look out the window.

"We're at my house," she said, sounding confused.

He decided to allow that she was still half asleep.

"Yes."

She frowned and her eyebrows furrowed together. She looked adorable.

"Why?" she asked.

"I thought I'd let you get a few more hours of sleep while I get the rest of my blueprint together and then we can set the plan into motion sometime this afternoon."

"Oh."

She didn't move, just stared at him, but she was still in that half-asleep state so it wasn't intense like before. It was just confused and tired.

"Do you want me to come up with you?" he asked, inwardly cursing himself the second the words slipped out of his mouth. But he knew he couldn't take them back now. Even Blair in her sleepy state would notice.

Slowly starting to comprehend what was all going on in the situation, Blair nodded her eyes and forced herself to remain upright and not fall on top of Chuck again.

He slid out of the car and held out his hand to help her out of the car.

She took it and he caught her when she tripped over herself trying to make that step to the sidewalk. He told Arthur he would be back in a few minutes, but he doubted that even as he said it. By the hint of a smile he saw on Arthur's face, he guessed _he_ did too.

Up the elevator, up to her bedroom, in his arms now, he set Blair down on her bed, removed her shoes and slid the duvet out from under her slowly so he could cover her with it.

When he was satisfied with himself, he turned to find a curious-looking Dorota peering in on the scene.

"Long night," he explained in a whisper.

Dorota nodded, looking slightly concerned.

"No one got drunk or did anything stupid," he assured her, though in the back of his head he wondered what Dorota considered _stupid_. _Maybe that role-playing kiss_, he gathered.

The maid dismissed herself, closing the door to Blair's room quietly on departure. Chuck was confused by the action, but thanked his lucky stars that he'd gotten past the ever-watchful maid and her suspicions.

Just as he was about to leave, he felt a tug on his jacket.

He turned to find Blair holding onto his sleeve.

"Chuck…" she murmured.

"What is it?" he asked softly.

"What time is it?" she asked on a loud sigh.

"A little after six," he said, not even glancing at his watch. He'd been prepared for the question.

She turned her head into her pillow, moaning a little. He expected her to release her hold on his sleeve, but she didn't.

"Blair?" he asked, wondering if it would be offensive to just rip his arm away from her or force her fingers off. Her grip could be very fierce, even while near sleep, even _during_ sleep.

He'd had experience.

"Stay with me," she murmured.

He blinked and then his eyes widened, unsure if he'd heard her correctly.

"What?" he asked.

"Stay with me," she whined now. "Come on. Just come to bed. It's early."

Albeit very quietly, he definitely did choke on his own breath. Did she hear what she was saying? Was she dreaming? Did she think he was Dan suddenly? He didn't like that thought.

"I don't think that would be a good idea, Blair…" he said, holding himself back by pure willpower and nothing else. _Didn't she know what she was doing to him?_

She opened her eyes fully and propped herself up on her elbow, still refusing to let go of his jacket sleeve, making it clear that no matter how sleepy she was, she would get her way one way or another.

"I think it would be a great idea," she said, as if she'd been wide awake the whole time. "I'm very tired, and despite how you're acting, I can't imagine you'll last much longer either. I know you want to get started with this plan of yours but four to six hours of sleep is not going to kill you, and it just makes sense that you do it here instead of going all the way back to The Empire and then coming back this afternoon, doesn't it?"

He studied her, trying to understand her logic. In a weird, screwed up way, she had a point. There would be a lot of travel time lost. And it wasn't like he _had_ to sleep in her bed.

"I can sleep on the couch downstairs," he offered.

"You're already in here," she said point-blank.

He parted his lips, trying to think of something to say. Attempting to tell her it would be inappropriate had completely gone over her head before – he guessed by choice.

"Come on." She tugged on his sleeve again, this time hard. He was completely unprepared for it and thus could not stop himself from being launched onto the bed and tumbling over her. "Now," she said sleepily, laying back down and snuggling her head back into the pillow. "Take off your shoes, and your jacket if you must, and sleep. Dorota will wake us at noon."

"She will?" he asked, confused, even as he followed her orders.

She yawned sleepily. "Mm. She knows to never let me sleep past then. Otherwise I won't be able to fall asleep later that night."

He wanted to comment on how that sounded very much like how a baby was set into its sleep cycles, but decided against it. The tiredness he'd been able to resist the whole way back was finally getting to him. By the time his head hit the pillow, he was out, and the last thing he remembered was Blair's soft hand extending her blanket over to him and pulling it up to his chin.

…

In the back of her mind she thought she heard Dorota yelling at someone in the hallway, potentially trying to keep them away from her 'Miss Blair's' bedroom in the hallway. It was possible that her mind was playing tricks on her though. She was still half asleep, more than half asleep.

And she was comfortable. Very comfortable.

"_Blair_?"

Her eyes flung open, and she knew it had not been her imagination. It hadn't just been Dorota's voice she'd recognized out in the hallway.

She was rendered completely and utterly speechless.

There stood Dan, just a few feet inside her bedroom, staring at her in her bed and Chuck beside her. A horrified Dorota stood stick still just outside her doorway in the hall.

After a few attempts at demanding an explanation from her, hardly getting more than a squeak or two and some blubbering out, Dan left her room, storming away as fast as his legs would carry him.

Before she made a mad dash after her boyfriend, she glanced over at Chuck who was surprisingly still fast asleep, and then sighed in relief with the realization that she hadn't been _spooning_ with Chuck in her bed. In fact, they hadn't been touching at all.

That had to give her _some_ leverage.

"_Dan, wait!_"

He had made it half across her foyer when she reached the bottom of the steps.

"It's not what—"

"_What I think?!_" he fumed, spinning around so he was almost right in her face. "What else could it possibly be, Blair?"

Her eyes narrowed, suddenly on the defense. "We didn't sleep together, Dan. I wouldn't do that."

He raised his eyebrows and she rolled her eyes.

"Fine. We slept together, but in the literal way. That's it."

He scoffed.

"We came back late," she defended, "and there's more we have to do today. There didn't seem to be a point to sending him home just for him to come back later."

His mind was racing at an astronomical pace, and maybe he was overreacting but he had to put it all on the table, even if it meant getting her pissed. At least he'd know she was innocent.

"More to _do_?" he asked, baffled.

She sighed and relaxed slightly. "I can't tell you what's all going on just yet, but I promise I will eventually."

He glared at her, but she did not change the intensity of her reassuring stare.

"Blair…I don't know what to think." He turned around, wrenching himself free from her tender grasp on his forehand. "I don't even know if I can trust you."

"_Dan_…"

"No. Don't do that. I know what you're going to say. I've heard it before. And don't tell me I'm different. You tell me…" He started walking towards her.

"Nothing _happened_," she said instantly. "We just…_literally_ slept together because we didn't get back till after six. It's a family thing for him, this…issue that I can't tell you about just yet, and you _know_ I'm the only one that really been able to understand that side of his life. I mean, for crying out loud, I was there when—"

"That's not what I was going to say," he cut her off on a harsh whisper. "Not what I was going to ask you about."

Her mouth snapped shut.

"I was there last night, Blair."

She tensed.

"I didn't leave right away."

Her brows furrowed and he sighed, evidently feeling guilty all of a sudden.

"I'm paranoid and I know it, but I have cause to be."

Her eyes widened in outrage.

"You stayed and spied on me?" She was near speechless, like the possibility hadn't even occurred to her, but she knew she was mad.

"It was wrong of me not to trust you, even after our talk – I know, but-"

"No!" Her whole face morphed into disgust. "You're supposed to _trust me_, Dan. No wonder you're so upset. You've concocted this whole scenario in your head where you're so certain I'm going to go back to Chuck and leave you just because it's happened with other guys I've been with in the past. You're paranoid and you have no cause for it," she fumed. She wanted to scream. She wanted to mind-control Dan into just believing what she had to say, because if he believed it then she would have no cause for doubt whatsoever.

"It was wrong. I'm _sorry_." He pinned her with his apologetic, intensified stare. "I shouldn't have done it."

She was still fuming, but she kept her mouth shut and allowed him to grasp her arms with his hands in an effort to make her concentrate on what his true point was. She was letting herself get caught up in his fault, and she wanted it to stay that away, because she didn't know if she could take what he had to say next.

"But I saw you two, Blair," he said very seriously, desperation clear on his face. It forced the anger in her to subside. It wasn't something she wanted to do, but she knew she had to, because the convoluted mess that was wrapped up in her brain was starting to become visible and she didn't know if she would have an answer to what he had to say. She could already feel the little white lie coming. She knew she would do it just to save herself, if not their whole relationship.

"I-If you're going to say we looked very in love, you have no credence for that. The situation was very serious. I was _comforting_ him."

He nodded, allowing the explanation at least partially.

"I know you probably were."

"I _was_," she insisted, her eyebrows narrowing again.

"_Okay_," he ground out.

She looked all no-nonsense at him and crossed her arms across her chest.

"But just be honest with me," he requested.

"_I am!_" she cried out, desperate for the fight to be over. It would be so easy if she could just put Dan on a shelf and resume their relationship when this whole mess with Chuck's _dad_ being _alive_ was over.

But she couldn't do that. And Dan's clear questioning _why_ was putting her under a severe amount of stress.

"Blair." He ran his hands soothingly over her shoulders, trying to calm her, trying to calm himself.

Today he'd woken up and convinced himself that he had overreacted the night before – it was one scheme after all. It hadn't been as if she'd be cheating on him and they were sneaking around in the middle of nowhere. So, he'd decided to pay Blair a visit, take her out to breakfast, make up for what was clearly just an unnecessary jealous act on the part of her most recent boyfriend.

But when he saw her in bed with Chuck, even though they'd been completely clothed, he'd assumed the worst and taken back all the shaming remarks about his spying and mistrust he'd told himself before coming over.

Which could be a sign that he was still paranoid – meaning almost 100% _YES_.

Or it could be that he had legitimate cause for being so clingy and verbally violent. That it didn't just look like he was searching for a reason to prove she was unfaithful, or that inevitably she would be.

Her answer to his next question would confirm the answer one way or another, and if she answered correctly, he swore he'd tell himself that she would love him _eventually_ and that he had to genuinely start trusting her, start _trying_, because Chuck would never be completely out of her life. They just had too much history. It was something he needed to accept and be okay with, since that had been a major flaw and key reason with how her other relationships had ended. _Insane, unnecessary jealousy._

His entire relationship with Blair potentially lie in the final words to his next question.

"Tell me…that you don't feel something for him," he said earnestly, softly, fiercely, holding her face in his hands.

Her lips parted and her eyes watered, and he _knew_.

"I-I don't," she managed after an unbearably long breath. "I'm with _you_," she said, covering his hands with hers and bringing them done between the two of them, intertwining their fingers.

Dan forced a tiny smile. "I know."

He released her and stepped away.

Her brows furrowed and her bottom lip trembled as she watched him leave her presence.

"Dan…?"

He stopped and turned fully toward her, waiting for her question.

"We're okay, right?"

He nodded, not trusting himself to smile again.

"Yeah. We're okay," he assured her. He finished his walk to the elevator and pushed the button. He looked at her once more before stepping inside when the doors opened. "Call me later," he said.

"I will," she said, almost numb. "And I'll tell you everything then," she said, eager all of a sudden.

He nodded again and this time managed another smile, even more forced this time though.

"I'll talk to you later," he said as the doors closed.

"'Kay," she whispered, feeling completely alone.

…

_She'd hesitated_, Dan brooded.

He knew what that meant. He would have known if it were anybody, but particularly because it was Blair Waldorf and he was Chuck Bass and she was trying to please everyone, but especially him – her boyfriend, who she didn't want to lose, and that should mean something.

But she'd _hesitated_.

It no longer mattered if she'd said the right words or not.

Hesitation on Blair Waldorf was flat out denial, and it usually meant she was partially aware of it. That only made matters worse, because they were partners, a _team_. They were in this _together_. The least she could have done was been honest with him. He deserved that much, even if he _had_ extended his spying on her. He'd confessed to it. That should've meant something. And he knew it did, because by the end of their argument she wasn't angry at him, or if she was it didn't look like it. It wasn't at the forefront like before.

Instead, she looked guilty, sad, like she'd broken them.

And because of that he decided he'd genuinely try to trust her completely. She'd said the right words after all, even if they were a far cry from convincing him. And she was going to tell him everything later. When he knew the context of it all, maybe he would understand her actions better. Maybe he wouldn't feel so threatened. Maybe he would be the guy that trusted Blair to the point where he was the one she would end up with.

A nasty cackle responded to that thought in his head.

He wondered if Chuck Bass had replaced the devil on his shoulder or if it was his own alter ego he hadn't known about till now. The guy that wrote about his friends so horribly, but seemingly had been in love with Blair since the beginning.

That guy.

_Maybe he should've told Blair he loved her._

…

A/N: Yep, that's right. I pulled a Stefan, but so help me it fit here! Lol (sidenote: You might have to read between the lines a little bit with that last line, but it makes sense to me, so I hope you can get it. ;)) Please review! Know that I wanted to put in so much more but Chuck kept talking to me so that first scene dragged on forever and then my fingers wanted to rest. Lol.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: So, I'm kinda getting the impression you guys like this story… ;) And I want you to know – those of you that actually seek me out outside of ff reviews and ask for an update – there is nothing I like more than an impatient reader. ;) As always, thanks bunches for those of you who take the time to review! Much appreciated. =)

(Sidenote: Like with most of the 'scheming' details scene in 5x22, I'm going along with the same plan that was put into place in 5x23 on the show, so if you don't remember how it was completely concocted and are confused regarding those specifics in this chapter, I suggest you do a brief watch-through of 5x23 (as I had to do), since I'm meddling more with the CB relationship in this fic than I am with the bringing back of Bart Bass. ;))

*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

…

**Ch.8—**

When Blair returned to her bedroom, she found Chuck sitting on the edge of her bed, his jacket folded neatly beside him and his shoes back on. He looked up when she entered the room.

"Chuck," she said, surprised. "I thought you were sleeping."

"I think it's probably best if I go," he said calmly. There was no venom in his voice that might have proven the result from potential eavesdropping on her conversation with Dan. He was just announcing his next plan of action.

"But it's only 10 o'clock," she said, clear disappointment in her voice.

Slowly, Chuck stood feet. "I know," he said. "That means we slept roughly four hours." He grabbed his jacket and slipped it on. "You can sleep longer if you like, but I need to go talk to my P.I., see if he knows anything. I can't wait all day."

She was frozen to the spot as he passed her to open the door.

"Chuck…"

He turned to look at her, waiting for her question.

"You're not leaving because… I mean, you didn't hear…"

"No," he said.

She felt immediate relief and she didn't know why.

"I'm not leaving because of that," he said, and some of her fear crept back up in her again and it made her feel guilty, like she had set out to hurt him on purpose by insisting she had no feelings for him in her argument with Dan.

Her lips parted, but her mind was a blank slate and she couldn't speak.

"I'll call you later," he said.

She nodded. "Okay," she said, already feeling the loneliness and despair wrap around her like it had when Dan had left.

But Chuck turned back to her once more before he walked through her doorway.

"Thank-you," he said softly. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "For waiting for me…at the brothel."

Warmth spread inside her chest, calming her finally from the panic she'd felt when Dan had sent his accusing glare towards her and spoke her name with such venom she thought she would die.

"You didn't have to do that."

She smiled softly. "I did."

He returned the sentiment with a slight curve to his lips.

"I'll call you," he said, and she nodded, feeling lighter than air when she closed the door behind him and leaned against the white wood.

…

He'd heard the conversation. The whole thing. He'd woken as soon as she'd left the bedroom frantically chasing after a rapidly leaving Dan. In truth, he'd woken as soon as she'd left the bed. When the pressure rose from her side of the bed, he'd felt something stir in him. It was unsettling, a feeling he hadn't felt in awhile. It'd been a long time since he'd slept in the same bed with her, and he was quickly remembering the feeling of disappointment when she left the bed instead of staying and cuddling with him for awhile.

They hadn't cuddled. He hadn't expected to. But when he'd woken initially he'd been confused as to why Dan was in Blair's bedroom at all, because wasn't _he_, Chuck Bass, the love of her life, her boyfriend?

But he wasn't. And that became very clear to him when he heard Blair plead her case to Dan – her _boyfriend_, that she didn't have any feelings for _him_, Chuck Bass – her _ex_-boyfriend that she'd pushed aside more than once in the past year.

Things were different now.

And he had to remember that.

She was with Dan, and she wasn't in love with _him_ – him, Chuck Bass. They had history but she felt nothing for him whatsoever. He wondered if she pitied him. He would hate if that was the case, but he wouldn't blame her. The situation warranted pity.

Before he could wonder if Blair had fallen in love with Dan or not, he spotted the man himself when he stepped out of the elevator on the first floor.

"Humphrey," he greeted, approaching him. At first Dan looked startled, and then a clear glare settled in his eyes.

"Chuck. Done sleeping with my girlfriend?" he accused.

Chuck sighed and rolled his eyes, stepping closer.

"Don't be so quick to judge. She was telling you the truth. Nothing happened."

He scoffed.

"I see you don't take well to good advice, so let me put it into simple terms. My father's alive."

His jaw dropped. "_What_?"

"I'd ask you to keep it a secret, but I think I'll just expect that you won't and move as fast as possible to keep him in this country and alive." He went to move past him.

"Whoa, wait-" He grabbed onto Chuck's sleeve to stop him before he left. "_That's_ what Blair wouldn't tell me was going on between you two?" he asked, clearly shocked.

Chuck slowly turned to look at him, saying nothing. Dan dropped his grip on his arm.

"I…wow, I'm sorry…" Dan said, sounding genuinely apologetic. Chuck was surprised for some reason. He didn't expect he'd believe him. "Does anyone else know?"

Chuck shook his head. "Only Blair. She found him first and told me. I wouldn't have told you, but frankly I didn't want Blair to lose another boyfriend over some unnecessary jealousy."

"You two have history," he said, as if that explained everything.

"But she's not with me. She's with you. I told her point blank that there were no more obstacles between us, and she told me she wasn't in love with me anymore. Then she went to you. It's very possible she's in love with you. Or that she soon will be."

He blinked. "She told you that?"

"She didn't need to. You spied on us. You didn't trust her. Twice. She should've been way more furious with you than she was, but she wasn't, and you want to know why? Because she cares about you and your relationship with her, apparently more than she did with even Nate and Louis. That's beating her first love and a prince. You shouldn't be judging her. You should be kissing the ground she walks on because you're so lucky to be the object of Blair Waldorf's affection."

There was angry frustration in his voice, but he didn't care. He'd saved his calm, reasoning voice with Blair, as she rightly deserved. But not Dan. The bastard didn't know how good he had it. He should be a servant in Blair's household as queen over all the land, but for some reason he would never understand, she'd made him her king. He needed to start being grateful. He should be falling at her feet and kissing her prettily painted toenails.

His temper simmered down when Dan was rendered speechless.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to figure out how to save my father."

Dan had a million questions running through his head, but they blurred so crazily together, he knew he couldn't offer a single one.

"Chuck-" he called out to him again before he'd left. With clear annoyance in his eyes, the billionaire heir turned back around. Dan sighed, regretting everything. "I won't tell anyone."

Chuck forced a clearly fake smile. "I appreciate the sentiment, but I won't hold my breath."

Dan sighed again. "I _mean_ it," he insisted. "I won't even tell Blair you told me."

"That's not necessary," he said, his eyes slightly narrowing. "It's probably best you two be honest with each other."

Dan was unable to say another word before Chuck left him.

…

He knew from the way she avoided his gaze as much as she could without looking too conspicuous that she was mad at him. She'd come to help him, because she seemed to have a passion to do so, but she was not pleased and he knew why.

He hadn't called. He'd told her he would and he hadn't. Instead, she'd probably been urged to come over by Serena, who apparently had been sent over from Blair herself to check on him.

Truth was he needed some space away from the reality of Dan and Blair together. And if Blair was with him, he would be reminded of it. He needed to get his head together and focus on the task at hand: saving his father. He'd had the perfect plan in motion and then Nate and his precious girlfriend, _Lola_ had to go and ruin it. All for the sake of some justice for how Diana had deceived them.

He saw where they were coming from, and at the end of it all, he had to admit that they hadn't known that it would affect him in such a negative way, but he'd had everything under control after having nowhere to start from when he left the brothel, and one little motion from little Lola Rhodes and it was pulled out from under him. Frustrating was putting it extremely lightly.

So when Blair came in and finished the thought that he thought he'd almost started thinking, he found himself feeling immediately guilty. It had been selfish of him to not follow through on his promise to Blair simply because it would remind him of the hurt he felt daily that he always tried to push down and only half-succeeded at. She didn't need to stay and wait for him the night before until the morning. There certainly was no requirement for her to invite – or rather, _demand_ – he sleep in her bed with her until they both had the energy to continue with their mission.

He shouldn't have broken his promise.

"I'm sure she'd love the chance to make things right," Nate responded to Blair's suggestion of using Lola as a stand-in to one of the twins they would use to lure Bart's enemy into their trap.

The response brought Chuck back to the present.

"Wonderful," Blair continued. "Just tell her it's a non-union job. While we rehearse, you go after Diana and make sure she doesn't cancel her client's appointment. We don't want to put on a show to an empty house."

Nate nodded in response.

" Hurry," she urged him. "We only have an hour. We're gonna need every moment I can spare."

He glanced at her in acknowledgement, acceptance, and approval of what she had decided. He should've worshiped her for how she'd saved him – _again_. Just like he'd suggested to Humphrey earlier that day.

"Blair, wait," he called after her just as she was leaving. It was now or never, and he needed to make amends.

She turned her head half-way to look at him.

"I have to get Lola, and find another girl to…participate with her. I don't have time for silly chatter."

"_Blair_," he demanded, and she halted, blinking innocently up at him.

Nate took his leave and Serena made a quick excuse for needing to leave so Chuck and Blair could have their privacy.

Once they were alone, Chuck closed some of the distance between them.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

She looked up at him, ever convincing to everyone but him that she was oblivious.

"Whatever do you mean?" she asked, tilting her head to the side in question. "I'm accustomed to you raising your voice every time you summon me to say."

He rolled his eyes and walked closer to her.

"I _meant_, I'm sorry I didn't _call_."

"Ah," she said knowingly as she moved towards him of her own volition. "It's quite alright, Chuck. I'm sure you just got busy and forgot, because I _know_ you wouldn't have deliberately broken your promise, what with you being so reformed and all." Then she glared, and he knew the innocent act had dropped. "_Right_?"

He sighed. "Did Dan talk to you?"

"Right after you left. He apologized. Took everything back."

"Did he tell you I talked to him?"

Her brows furrowed. "No."

He decided not to ask her what excuse Dan had used to come back and suddenly be so gracious and apologetic towards her.

"What did you tell him?" she asked, curious.

"That he's the luckiest guy in the world because he gets to be with you, and that he shouldn't forget that."

Her breath caught in her throat.

"I also pressed that he shouldn't be accusing you of things that are totally false."

Her eyes widened. "You _told_ him." She shook her head in disbelief when he didn't answer. "Chuck, you didn't have to do that. Bart isn't safe yet. No one should know," she insisted.

"You mean, besides Nate, Lola and Serena?" He raised an eyebrow.

She rolled her eyes. "That's different. They're part of the scheme. They _have_ to know." She crossed her arms across her chest.

He smirked. She was so darn cute when she was trying to explain herself.

"I did it for you," he said sincerely.

Her brows furrowed.

"I know you want this relationship to work, and our history has gotten in the way with every relationship you've had since..." He decided not to finish the thought. It didn't seem to be a great idea to remind her of the night she had lost her virginity. "I wanted to try and prevent that if I could," he said instead.

"Really?" she asked. "You want it to work?"

He offered a slight smile. "You know the answer to that question." Her lips parted, but she didn't respond fast enough. "Now, why don't you go get Lola, so we can get this whole thing rolling. You only have an hour, remember?"

She blinked. "Right. Okay."

"I'm forgiven, right?" he asked smoothly when she couldn't seem to move.

For reasons she could not comprehend, his words were lost on her. "Right," she finally said. "_Of_ _course_," she affirmed, more confidently this time with a bit of pep.

He smiled a little in response, which only left her feeling more unsettled. She shook herself from the hazy feeling hed' left her with and turned to leave, stopping once more at the elevator to look at him before stepping inside.

….

A/N: Thoughts? Please review! ;p


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Sorry for the delay! (since for some bizarre reason I've actually been updating pretty regularly, lol) It just didn't happen last weekend and this week was CRAZY with school stuff. But here I am now, so…please forgive? I think you guys will like this one. It's much lighter than the previous chaps. Please review!

*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

…

**Ch.9—**

Shit.

How did this happen? When? Without him noticing? Was he so caught up in fixing the situation with his father that he didn't realize it until it was too late?

Because he knew Blair Waldorf _so_ wasn't sitting alone in the back of his limo with him. Again. With another delicious dress on. That, while it didn't cling to her body like the last one did, still stopped a few inches above her knees and rode a little higher still because of the slightly lazy way she was sitting.

Because that would be dangerous.

That would cause blood to rush to his lower regions and for him to tense up.

That would make him start to sweat.

Her neckline wasn't low cut and she was even wearing a jacket to conceal her form and long graceful arms.

But that bun she was wearing left much of her neck exposed, and for some reason he would never be able to comprehend, seeing her bare knees so close to him did crazy things to him – like making his mind very one-track.

He took a deep breath and turned to look out the window, seeking some sort of solace, hoping he wouldn't develop too much of a boner before they reached their destination – or at all till he got home.

_Father. Lily. Dad alive. Serena sneaking around. Dan being Blair's boyfriend._

_Ding! Ding! Ding! Blair has a boyfriend and it isn't you, you perv._

_Good thoughts_, he assured himself. Some heartbreaking, some that would make any sane person mind-boggled over the situation, and definitely some that involved a huge moral dilemma.

_Excellent_, he thought, satisfied. He didn't have to keep his eyes pinned to the scene outside his window any longer. He could safely look back inside the car, and even at Blair, without fearing her concealed body would turn him on to the point of embarrassment.

He attempted it and conveniently found Blair tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, slowly bringing her hand down to rest in her lap.

He stifled a groan and rolled his eyes, adjusting himself in his seat.

Blair looked at him a little strangely, uncertain as to what exactly was wrong with him. He'd been acting subtly on edge since just a minute or so after they'd gotten inside the limo. At first she thought it was just because their plan had suddenly blown up in their faces with the appearance of Andrew Tyler and the disappearance of Lola and Ivy.

But she was starting to doubt that possibility. Especially since almost right after the events of losing their decoys Chuck had come to the conclusion that his P.I. was obviously behind the whole scheme that made his father go into hiding to begin with. At least somewhat.

Chuck had instructed his driver to return to the brothel and that had been it.

His behavior now didn't make any sense at all.

"Chuck?" she tilted her head in concern and a little suspicion.

He turned his head to look at her and raised his eyebrows, clearly holding back some sort of…difficulty he was dealing with.

It bothered her that she didn't know what it was.

"Are you okay?" she asked, laughing a little because it was kind of funny to see him like this.

"Of course," he managed. "Why?" he added lamely, cursing himself for asking because he hadn't the slightest idea on how he would answer her further inquiry.

"You seem…agitated." She gestured to how stiff his lower half appeared. His legs looked like they were engraved in stone.

"I just want this whole thing to be over with," he said honestly, forcing his train of thought to switch gears to what _should_ be the reason for his restlessness. "I never expected this kind of deception from Tyler. We trusted him for years."

She seemed to accept it, because her eyes softened and her eyebrows smoothed out. She sank back into her seat and turned her gaze out the window on her side of the car.

As quiet as he could manage, he breathed out a sigh of relief.

It had been far too long since he'd gotten laid. Problem was he only wanted Blair Waldorf and she wasn't available.

Clearly his penis was punishing him.

…

It was exciting seeing the takedown. It was heartwarming seeing the sweet reunion between father and son. It wasn't even awkward in the slightest that she was still in the room.

Of course then she'd been ushered out into the hallway so Bart and Chuck could tell the police what they knew.

There really wasn't any other reason for her to be there.

She and Dan were on good terms again, but that didn't mean some extra time together wouldn't do them some good. Besides, she liked hanging out with him.

She could go home now. She should go home. She should call him at the very least. Right now. Tell him she was leaving and she would have the rest of the day off. With him heading off to Rome soon, they needed quality time together if they were going to last the summer.

That thought shocked her because it told her that deep down she didn't see long term in her future with Dan.

But that couldn't be right… could it?

She shook herself of her troubling thoughts, determined now to go home and solidify and strengthen her relationship with Dan.

But when she lifted her head up she caught Chuck's stare from the inside the room he stood with the door half-open. His eyes were hot; they were smoldering. She couldn't look away if she tried.

Her stomach dropped as he excused himself without looking away and started walking towards her.

At first guilt settled in her chest because she didn't need to be there anymore and she was probably just being a nuisance even in her keeping out of the way because wasn't family and she wasn't the authorities. She was just a tag along, a partner in crime that had already fulfilled her duties.

But the closer he got the more it dissipated, and the hotter she felt. She felt the flames and the ice. She felt a little dizzy; and, she would deny it later, but she felt fluttering erupt inside her. She felt the butterflies.

From one look he did this to her.

"You know you don't have to be here anymore," he whispered, as if talking any louder would break the spell that had been cast over them. "You can leave… if you want to. You don't have to stay," he breathed, becoming transfixed on her himself.

She opened her mouth, aware that she was supposed to say something in response, but her mind was a blank slate. All she could feel was the warmth of her skin and the heat of his eyes. It was overpowering her. It had taken hold of her ability to speak.

Something clicked inside him and he decided the last thing he wanted was to spend the rest of the day without her, even when he still needed to truly embrace his father, still needed that reunion.

For the first time since he'd caught her gaze he took his eyes off of her.

She thought the spell would be broken; they both did.

But it wasn't. If anything, it intensified. He took her hand in his and gently ran his thumb over the top, amazed and enthralled by the softness of her skin. He lifted his eyes back to hers and a moment later so did she.

"Actually…" he began, nearly choking on his own breath.

She gulped.

"Andrew Tyler worked for my father a lot longer than he did for me."

Her eyes widened slightly, wondering if she was interpreting what he was saying correctly, what he might be alluding to.

"The police will probably be talking to him for awhile yet…"

She blinked and her eyebrows furrowed slightly, the hazy state of her brain clouding her comprehension further.

"Do you want to go somewhere?" he asked so softly she could barely breathe. His voice was stifling. Her fingers tingled in his grasp.

She just stared at him for what felt like an eternity, but he didn't falter. Finally, she nodded slowly.

"Yes," she managed.

As daring as it might have been, in that moment it felt natural. It felt right. He lifted her hand to his lips, never breaking eye contact, and pressed a lingering kiss to the smooth skin he'd ached to touch more intimately.

Her gasp got caught in the trap her throat had recently created.

Slowly he brought her hand back to her side and released it, moving his hand to the small of her back, only turning to look down the hallway once they figured out how to move their feet again and found they had to turn the corner so as to avoid walking into either a wall or a closed door.

It was the most stifling, most exhilarating experience she'd been through in months, maybe in over a year. Dan or anyone – or _anything_ else was the furthest thing from her mind. And to him, despite his recent familial discovery… a meteor could have fallen to the ground and obliterated the earth and he wouldn't have been able to look away.

"I want to show you something," he said softly, a sweet, genuine, breathtaking smile starting to take over his face.

"What?" she asked, dazed and starry-eyed by his dreamy, silk voice.

They were on the other side of the building now. It had taken so long to get there, especially since they had been walking so slow and had unknowingly clasped hands just before they reached the last long hallway.

"My father told me about it, but I haven't seen it yet," he said, clear excitement building in his voice.

She fought a smile and finally gave into it as he reached forward to open the huge double mahogany doors. She turned and looked at what they'd discovered.

Her breath caught in her throat.

"Oh, _Chuck_."

The hand he'd dropped to open the doors clasped hers again. He was breathless as well.

It was a garden; an enclosed jungle; a greenhouse that looked anything but. And it was inside the building. He didn't know how, but it was. There were flowers of every kind, trees that were so tall you almost couldn't see the tops. Butterflies fluttered around the more vibrant plants and a stone path wound its way throughout the paradise.

It was magical.

Chuck tugged on her hand gently and she smiled, following through the wonderland. Little birds flew overhead and sang their sweet love song. Blair spotted it before he did – an elegantly crafted bench swing on the other side of a pond pebbled with lily pads and a small family of water birds.

They sat there on that swing, oblivious of any world outside of this one. Her head sank down onto his shoulder, and his heart beat faster than it ever had. He could not blame it on the humidity in the jungle.

"It's so beautiful," she whispered breathily. "I never want to leave."

He swallowed and knew it had to be said. He would regret it forever, even if he knew once he said it the spell would be broken, that it would all be over and they would go back to being the people not only inside the brothel, but outside it, back in Manhattan, back to his loneliness and her significant other.

But his heart hammered within him to say it. He couldn't refuse the request.

"Blair," he began softly, gently, as if he was afraid he'd break her resting against him if he spoke too loudly.

"What?" she asked, her voice still so dreamy, as it had been ever since they'd walked into this other world.

He shifted slightly and she lifted her head, the beginnings of warning bells going off in her head, but for the most part she ignored them.

"Blair…" He forced himself to breathe evenly as he turned to face her more directly. She turned with him and searched his eyes as he searched hers, penetrating past any façade, seeing into the soul.

"I…" he swallowed.

"What?" she breathed, losing oxygen again, and realizing that in that moment what he had to say she _needed_ to know. She _craved_ the knowledge of it. She was sure she wouldn't be able to _live_ until she heard it.

"_I still love you_," he breathed, desperation bleeding through his words. He was pleading for her return, even as she belonged to someone else.

Her eyes widened slightly and her lips parted, and with hardly any feeling in her hand she lifted it to cup his face.

He swallowed, scared to death of what her answer would be and more in love with her than he'd ever been.

She looked into his eyes, into his soul, and abandoned her loyalty.

She leaned forward and kissed him.

…

A/N: You're welcome. ;)

FYI though – don't get _too_ comfortable. The happy ending isn't _quite_ in sight yet.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Alright, all bets are off from here on out. I've tried to stay w/ the general outline of how the episodes were structured throughout this fic, but since I don't want it to end the same way 5x24 did by way of making Bart the bad guy, it's probably going to be very altered, cause when CB are reunited that's going to be IT. No more arcs. ;) Let me know if anything confuses you.

*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

…

**Ch.10—**

The kiss escalated faster than she'd intended. It _started_ before she'd meant it to. She hadn't _meant_ it to _start_.

But she hadn't seen any of this coming. She hadn't seen this day or the day before it or the tension or the butterflies or the…

She just hadn't seen it coming.

But here it was, here they were, and before she knew it they were sliding out of their jackets and she was practically sitting on his lap kissing him madly like he was the only air supply left to hang onto. Her tongue twisted with his, their teeth gnashed against each other and her hands created a twisted mess in his hair.

She felt his hands roam over her back and felt the tingles turn into an itch in the melting pot between her legs. She _ached_ for his hands on her bare skin and suddenly hated that she was only able to achieve that on her arms and neck and face.

More humidity suddenly enveloped her neck and she realized he'd pulled the pins from her hair setting loose her coiled up strands of hair. She moaned and pushed herself against him, finally straddling his lap and almost unconsciously unbuttoning the top two buttons on his shirt.

"_Chuck_," she whispered huskily into his ear before starting to nip down the side of his neck and like the spaces where her teeth had pinched.

She could feel his fingers at the hem of her dress and thought she was going to explode. It was so wrong, but she wanted to grab him and just tell him to yank it off and to get rid of his own clothing too.

Any conscience on the matter had completely escaped her.

Until Chuck's surprising voice of reason brought her to her senses.

"What about Dan?" he murmured, the side of his face pressed against hers as his fingers dug into her hips over her clothed dress.

And just like that the spell was broken. His love declaration hadn't broken it before, and neither had her sudden kiss. It was the reminder of reality, of what existed outside the garden they'd unearthed and past the wild lands where the brothel was stationed all the way back to Manhattan, back to Brooklyn and back to The Empire.

He brought it all back with that one simple question.

She froze.

"Blair?" he asked when she'd stopped responding. Very slowly she pulled her head back to look at him and he knew in that moment it was all over.

It was that heart-stopping, I'm-gonna-throw-up-any-minute kind of moments. It was that I-just-keep-putting-my-foot-in-my-mouth moment too. Except he hadn't been saying anything wrong, and he knew he had to ask. He couldn't let her have sex with him – no matter how badly he wanted it – if she didn't break things off with Humphrey first, and _especially_ if she didn't plan on it.

He gulped, but pushed a strand of hair behind her ear though most of it was not plastered to the back of her neck. Their combined heat with the moisture of the room was turning them into melted goo.

"What is it?" he asked gently, though he knew very well what it was.

"I…uh…" she cleared her throat, trying to find a way out of this situation that wouldn't have her lashing out at him or denying what had just happened and that'd she'd enjoyed it. Because she had. She'd _initiated_ it.

"Blair…" he said cautiously, wrapping a hand lightly around her waist. She tensed in his embrace and he tensed with her. It was as if his fingers couldn't decide whether to hold on tighter or completely let go.

She decided this would be easiest if she put some distance between them. She _wouldn't_ bolt for the door though. That was just _childish_. And she had an inkling feeling that she might get lost, _especially_ if she started raving about. Storming off in the middle of a steamy jungle didn't exactly sound like a good idea.

It was at this moment though that he registered her exact intent and tightened both his hands around her waist.

She struggled for awhile but finally realized he wouldn't budge until she verbalized something.

"Chuck-"

"Don't."

Her eyes flitted to his, having tried to avoid eye contact since he'd asked his fateful question.

"Chuck…"

"Don't do this," he said sternly, his fingers digging deeper into her sides.

She struggled silently a little while longer and finally gave up. With a huff and a sigh, she finally leveled with him.

"Can't we just pretend…"

"…this didn't happen?" he offered.

It hurt her more than made her angry and that made everything all the more worse, because he wasn't snapping at her he was just hopeless and heartbroken. It crushed her, completely crushed her, and if she wasn't so convinced that she had to _leave_, she would have abandoned her loyalty completely all over again.

She pursed her lips and held in tears she knew were her own doing.

"I can't cheat on Dan, Chuck," she said quietly.

He loosened his grip on her slightly, but not much.

"Cheating isn't just _sex_, Blair," he said, this time sounding a little irate.

She blinked and her eyebrows narrowed. She opened her mouth to spew some venomous accusations, but realized none of them would work. He hadn't initiated the kiss. He hadn't forced her to come into the greenhouse, the brothel, the hotel _or_ even The Empire that day. It had been all her. She'd insisted on it all. And was she going to blame the sexual tension that had ignited between them on the other side of the brothel on him? _–You're too damn sexy! It's your fault!-_

Oh yeah…that would go over real well.

Suddenly, an idea came to her.

"You kissed my hand!" she declared.

He was so taken back by her strange accusation that he released her without thinking. His eyebrows fused and his head tilted to the side in question.

"You heard me," she said matter-of-factly, grabbing her yellow jacket haphazardly tossed to the side and tucking it between her arms and her chest as a sort of barrier with her arms crossed.

"_What_?" he asked, as if he hadn't heard her at all and was just voicing his confusion now. She held her ground though, so he stood to his feet, grabbed his jacket and walked to her, stopping just before the line to where she'd start backing away. "You wanna run that by me again?" he asked, now bordering amused.

Her lips parted, but she knew she couldn't repeat herself. His smirk was already making her blush. She couldn't believe this had been serious a moment ago.

"I shouldn't have to repeat myself," she finally managed, realizing as the flush covered her face that she felt even hotter with her hair down and cursed having let Chuck take the pins out.

Even in his amusement, he clearly recognized her predicament. He turned around to look at the bench and found the pins lying on the ground beneath it. He bent and grabbed them, then walked to her, past her initial resistance.

She tried to snap them out of his hands, but he held them strong. They fought a strong eye war for a few tense seconds but his words ensured her surrender.

"You're _tense_, Blair. There's no way you can manage to do your hair back up," he insisted.

She muttered something intelligible, because there was no way she could say it straight that she didn't want him to do her hair because then she might give in to him. She was _so_ sexually aware of him, and to add to that as intimate and tender an act as doing her hair was…that was just a recipe for disaster.

But, somehow she managed and he circled back around to her.

"Better?" he asked, genuinely curious.

She hated that he was so…_good_.

"Good." He smiled and she knew the pitch was coming. "So, now tell me again."

She blinked, looking suddenly innocent. "What?"

He smirked. "You were blaming me for our hot make-out session because I-"

"Well, I wouldn't say it was ho-"

He raised his eyebrows and she rolled her eyes, muttering that it was indeed _hot_.

"-because I kissed your hand earlier," he finished.

She nodded once. "Yes." He stared her down again though and she caved. "Okay, fine, it's not your fault. None of this is. You're completely innocent in it all. Because you've changed. Because you're perfect. Because you didn't ask any of this of me, and I still-"

He grabbed her arms and held them stiff at her sides since she was waving them around so wildly he thought she might hurt herself. She was also talking at a speed that couldn't possibly be safe.

"_Hey_," he cut her off gently. "_Breathe_."

When he was satisfied she'd taken a satisfactory amount of time to catch her breath and regain her strength, he slowly released her.

"You still what?" he asked softly, picking up where she'd left off.

Her eyes flickered to his and panic raced across her face. He'd _caught_ it. He'd caught it, and she hated it, because she must be so transparent to him and he was still making her _say it_ and she couldn't stand it because this was exactly what she would have to deal with if she went back to him.

Not that she was even _considering_ it.

Her eyebrows narrowed. "It's just the atmosphere, Chuck. It's just being close to each other in a life-threatening situation after being so far apart. It's just…familiarity."

He cringed, because familiarity was a word she'd used in the past with _Nate_ and _the safe choice_. But now it was being attached to him and he hated that, hated her excuses.

"Is that what you plan on telling Dan when you tell him you kissed me and _I_ was the one who had to stop it?" he demanded, quickly becoming angry.

She was getting angry now too. "I-"

"Or do you plan on blaming the whole thing on me?" he spat. "Same old, Chuck Bass, incapable of change."

"_Chuck_!" Her eyes widened, clearly having not expected this outburst. Now she could barely breathe.

"_What_?" he finally fumed, now furious with the situation.

"I…I don't plan on telling him."

He felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him. She wasn't going to blame the incident on him, but for whatever reason she'd decided no one outside of the two of them would ever know. It would be as if it never happened.

"Why?" he finally asked.

"I think the reason's obvious, Chuck," she half-laughed.

"You think he'll break up with you if you do," he said.

"I _know_ he will. After all the jealousy spikes in the last 48 hours-"

"Don't you think maybe he had _cause_ for it?"

Her eyes narrowed. "What are you saying?"

He closed the distance between them. "You know what I'm saying, Blair," he said, making no secret of any of it. There would be no subtle, cryptic message left in his words when she finally left. She would know without a doubt just how straightforward his interpretation of the situation was.

"I'm afraid, I don't-"

"Why did you kiss me?"

"I told you. It was the atmosphe-"

"Why'd you come to the brothel with me today?"

"I was already at the hotel with Ivy and Lola. It just made sense to find out where they were."

"Why did you stay?"

She blinked. "I had to see what happened, to make sure everything worked out."

"Why?"

"Because I care about you."

"_Why_?"

"_What_?" she asked, trying to catch her breath from the fast-paced interrogation.

"_Why do you care?_" he repeated carefully. "Last I checked you and I were incapable of being just friends and that I was _lucky_ to even get your help in this scheme."

"W-We aren't," she stammered, "and you were!"

He raised his eyebrows.

She sighed. "Don't make me do this, Chuck," she begged, because she knew she was unraveling.

He closed the distance between them and took her hands in his. He leaned close until his lips brushed the shell of her ear.

"Why?"

She swallowed. "Chuck…"

He pulled back to stare into her wide, brown eyes and the desperation that bore into their depths.

"There's something going on between us, and you know it."

She stared at him, unable to move, her heart beating a million miles a second.

"If you don't see it, you're not just lying to me or Dan, but you're lying to yourself."

"Chuck," she pleaded, her words barely a whisper.

"Tell me you don't love me," he said, and her eyes widened. "If you can say it, if you can flat out tell me that you don't love me, that you're not in love with me, and that you love Dan, then-"

"I don't love him!" she said suddenly.

His eyes widened and then became hooded as he slowly leaned towards her again, having thought he'd gotten his answer.

"But I don't love you either," she said just before he reached her lips. She wriggled out of his grasp and picked up her jacket from off the floor, stepping away from him. "I'm not in love with you, Chuck," she said roughly. Then she turned around and made her way back through the jungle.

He heard the doors open and close once she'd made it to the other side and knew she was really gone.

It took him longer to make it out because everything reminded him of her and her smell was all around him and just before he reached the entrance to the greenhouse, he noticed one of her high-heeled shoes sitting on the steps.

_How very Cinderella._

He recalled how a similar instance had happened when Louis had returned and truly begun to court her. He didn't like that parallel either, but Blair had made it clear where she stood with him now, even if during parts of her defense she was extremely unconvincing. He couldn't change what she decided to believe. Only she could do that.

…

A/N: I meant for this chapter to have multiple scenes, but this scene has so much to it and the next development has at least a couple scenes involved, so I think they can go nicely into the next chap. Please review! ;) (Props to you if you caught the VD 2x01 throwback ;) The dialogue wasn't exact, but the situation's significantly different here, so I had to make some amendments ;))


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Your reviews make me smile. Thank-you. =)

**DISCLAIMER! READ PLEASE! Okay. *clears throat* Now that I have your attention, I have to warn you of some of the content of this chapter. There WILL be a DB sex scene. It won't be graphic and will more or less be a fade to black sort of thing, but there will be some details in the aftermath. I am warning you of this now in case you want to skip this chap or just skim past it. You've been warned.**

…...

Ch.11—

When he stepped out of the bathroom, Diana was standing in front of him on the other side of the hall. It looked like she'd been standing there awhile – or at least as long as he'd been in the bathroom, brooding. Which had been awhile.

She didn't speak at first, so he opted for assessing her curious facial expression and then walking down the hall in the opposite direction.

She didn't move an inch towards him, but he heard her loud and clear and stopped just before the turn at the end of the hall.

"I gather you're responsible for the hobbling girl recently seen banging on one of our cars in the parking lot," she said, amusement in her voice as it always was.

"Is there a question here or…?" he left open for interpretation.

Diana smiled and started walking towards him. She looked pointedly at the shoe in his hand.

"Was the greenhouse up to your expectations?"

Chuck closed his eyes in anguish. He should have known. There were cameras all over this building. She must've been watching him like a hawk.

He forced himself to focus. This was not a conversation he wanted to have with Diana.

"It surprised me," he said.

She raised her eyebrows. "Oh?"

"I've been to my fair share of brothels," he informed her – to which she smirked, but not in surprise. She was clearly familiar with the typical Bass behaviors and past times. "And none of them had greenhouses in them."

"Your father was very generous in funding us when we first started, and it's no secret that sex in a tropical paradise is on every man's to-do list, or a secret fantasy at least."

"Makes sense," he replied simply.

She smiled. "I called down to have one of our drivers take Blair home if you were curious."

"I wasn't."

Her expression shifted. "Why not?"

He sighed. "I'd rather not discuss it. Is my father still talking to the police?" he asked quickly, eager to get off the subject of anything Blair.

She nodded. "They just left. You were in there quite awhile-"

"Thanks," he interjected, walking away again and up the stairs to the room on the other side of the building. It'd been almost an hour. He hoped his father wouldn't be equally suspicious.

…

"Charles," Bart said in surprise on seeing his son enter the room. "I thought you might have left."

Reluctantly, Chuck smiled.

"I just got you back. It's not likely I would've left so soon."

Bart smirked and brought his half-filled suitcase to the table in the center of the room.

"Diana told me you left with Blair Waldorf," he informed him, a smile in his voice. "I think that's pretty good evidence that you might not have come back."

Chuck sighed and walked further into the room.

"Yes, well, let's just say things didn't go as planned."

Bart raised his eyebrows but didn't push the subject further.

"You're packing to come home, right?" he asked, his mind shifting to the situation in front of him and just how huge it was. This was a good thing what had happened today. This had nothing to do with Blair and everything to do with what he thought he'd lost. This left him elated and relieved.

"Right," Bart said, as if it had been obvious. "Now that we have Tyler's confession, we can get Devin's, and I can show my face again."

Chuck nodded along, cheered by the details. They provided more focus.

"I want to thank-you, son," he said, sending Chuck into an almost shock. "I didn't think this was going to be possible, but the way you took control, got me out of this mess…makes me think I did something right raising you."

Chuck smiled a bit doubtfully. "Dad, we both know you didn't raise me. You were too busy with those inappropriate transient women to teach me any viable life lessons, except those about inappropriate transient women."

The subject was serious and burned them both a little, but they managed to share a small smile between them.

Chuck picked up the picture lying in his father's suitcase of the two of them. It lifted his spirits a little, because in all this time his father hadn't forgotten him.

"I will have to lay low," Bart continued, moving past the sentimental moment as he accepted the picture back from his son. "…hire security."

"We'll take care of it together," Chuck put in, sure of it, slowly sure of them. "Like a family. Speaking of which…what about Lily? Have you thought about how you wanna break the news to her?"

He shook his head. "I'm not sure," he said, for the first time sounding sad and a little hopeless. "My relationship with Lily was on the rocks. You and I were going through a difficult time. Maybe hiding all these years was easier than facing things head-on."

"Well, how about we try group therapy next time instead?" Chuck suggested with an implied laugh. It was getting easier, this conversation, his father, reality.

He grabbed his father's suitcase and headed out of the room, his father right behind him and Diana's knowing look as she glanced at the two men from her office as they headed for the exit. The loving pat on his back from his father warmed him, made him feel that at least one sector of his life might be going in the right direction.

Maybe this time he could have the relationship with his father that he'd always wanted, that he'd _needed_ for so very long.

…

At first when the man approached her, she put herself on fight-or-flight mode, hoping some sort of Audrey spirit would put fighting skills in her and she could beat her opponent.

Of course before she could think of anything, the man explained that the limo she was banging on, sure that someone was in, was completely empty, but that he could drive her back to wherever she needed to go.

She guiltily and somehow innocently put her Southern Belle smile on and thanked him as he held the door open for her and she slid inside. She didn't tell him anywhere to go but back to the city. She couldn't decide on a destination. She had to recover first. Thankfully, the man didn't mind the vagueness of her pinpointed location.

Five minutes down the road from the brothel and she realized she was shaking. _Shaking_. And she knew exactly why. She'd cheated on Dan. _Cheated_. True it hadn't been sex, but that would be the only card she'd be able to play. Full on making out with Chuck of her own volition surely wasn't going to go well for her if she chose till Dan the truth, and she knew eventually she would have to. She remembered how furious she'd been when Serena hadn't told her that she'd slept with Nate herself and instead had to be told by her boyfriend. It was true that she was the girlfriend and not the 'other man' in this scenario, but Dan deserved the truth. Up until she'd partaken in this scheme with Chuck, she'd been honest with him and him with her. That shouldn't stop now. Not when Dan had even been very forthright about his jealousy. He hadn't hidden that from her, hadn't hidden his spying either, no matter how despicable that was.

Everything she had to say would lead to a break up though. She just knew it would. Because it was all his accusations coming true, and no matter what she said, he wouldn't believe that she hadn't physically cheated until today. He knew her history with Chuck, and he knew her well enough to know that she always went back to him at this time of year every year, whether it lasted or not. It was like clockwork and she didn't like it. It was like she had no choice in the matter, like she was stuck in this endless cycle. And Dan was different, he was. He knew all about her and he accepted her like no one else had – with the obvious exception of Chuck, who she did _not_ love. Well, she didn't love Dan either, but that was beside the point.

Dan was good for her. He'd never hurt her. He'd been by her side through everything in the past year, and he'd put aside all the judgments he'd had for her in the past. There was no reason to leave him or to even think about leaving him. Sure their sex life had gotten off to a rocky start, but it was all smoothed over now. It just took having it in a not so ordinary location to get things rolling.

Which she should've known since…

Well, she just should've known it. Sneaking around in a secret relationship often included some sort of unordinary location to have sex in, and she obviously knew about this because she was familiar with sneaking around in a secret relationship.

Not that she had ever enjoyed that type of thrill. Because it wasn't a thrill. It was just…

Well, she knew about it.

Aggravated with herself, she realized that sometime along the way she had told the driver the address of Dan's place and she knew that would be a good idea. She might accidentally spill all the details with Serena if she went straight home and she didn't think she could take that kind of pressure. She would feel guilty, more than she already did. Right now what she needed to do is create a blank slate for herself, whether Dan knew it or not. She would go above and beyond tonight. She would assault him, maybe repeatedly, maybe for the rest of the week. She would be very interested in his trip to Rome, which sounded _amazing_. She would focus solely on Dan, so that if it did slip out that she'd made out with Chuck at the brothel just before he reunited with his father, she could play out the cards of how she'd been trying to make it up to him and how that meant what had happened with Chuck hadn't meant a thing and would never happen again.

_Yes_, she thought, smiling brilliantly. This would work. It had to.

"We're here," the driver announced, but she wasn't fully aware until she felt the slightly chilly breeze coming inside the car from the open door.

She smiled politely, murmured a thank-you and headed into the building and up to the Humphrey loft.

"Blair," Dan said, surprised when he opened the door to find his girlfriend there, and even more surprised to find she was barefoot and with only one shoe in her hand. She kissed him quickly though and stepped inside. "It's late."

"The drive was long," she said, setting herself down on the couch and making herself comfortable while still managing to keep her back straight. "But I didn't want to go home." She smiled warmly at him and he returned it, coming to sit beside her.

"What about Chuck?" he asked.

For a moment she froze, fearing that somehow he knew everything, but it dissolved when she reminded herself just how much he'd known about the situation before she'd even left that afternoon.

"He's still there. The police needed to ask him and Bart some more questions."

He nodded, accepting it. Then he took her hand in his and moved his thumb over it.

"I know we've already discussed in detail how much you're not secretly running around with Chuck, but I just have to point out that…whether there's a romance or not, Chuck's dad is alive and it's going to change his world deeply."

"His yes, but not mine," she said instantly, hoping he hadn't seen her gulp and the brief terror in her eyes she'd quickly covered up.

He searched her eyes, giving no hint to what he may or may not be seeing in those dark brown orbs.

"I understand why you did what you did today, but I need to know for me – for _us_ – what is really happening here?"

The smile seemed almost natural now.

"I'm here with you, right now, in this moment, and that is not going to change any time soon, because who I want to be with, who I am with, is you." She leaned forward and kissed him. He returned it, so she deepened the kiss, pulling an inch away when they started running out of air. "Is anyone else home?" she asked breathlessly.

He shook his head slightly. "No," he whispered.

She smiled against him. "Good," she said sultrily, kissing him deeply and slipping her hands under his shirt to assist in undressing him. She thrilled in the feel of his hands smoothly unzipping the back of her dress.

This was where she was supposed to be.

…

Staring up at the ceiling, in bed beside Dan in what should have been their magical post-coital glow, she found herself anything but happy.

They'd started in the living room on the couch, but after just a few thrusts he suggested moving it to the bedroom. She flirtatiously suggested doing it on the kitchen counter, but even in what she thought was lust he grimaced at the bare countertop. She suggested the wall then, because she thought that was hot as hell – and besides, it wasn't as if he couldn't hold her up. He'd done it in the elevator during their first successful time together. He wasn't for that either though. Something about Rufus potentially touching it sometime in the near future and him not being able to block out the image of his father leaning against the surface area where they'd had sex.

Afraid that she'd lose his sexual drive completely – and quite possibly her own – she settled for the bedroom, and for the bed, because apparently the walls and desk and bookcase were out of the question. He teasingly said Cedric wouldn't be able to handle it and that he'd be disturbed by him watching like she'd once informed him when they made out once in his bedroom, but it wasn't funny or cute this time. She'd be damned if she let him use _her_ cute remark to stop sex in that location entirely.

In an effort to make the experience enjoyable for both of them, she took control. She rode him hard, harder than he could keep up with or maintain, and that irritated her a little but she plowed forward because this was going to be the best night of his life. She was going to really outdo herself, prove that she was the best sexual animal he'd ever laid eyes on. Screw Serena and any other girl he'd slept with or fantasized about. She was going to be the _best_.

It proved true, according to what he mumbled just before falling asleep. She'd made him come twice and that was quite the accomplishment, seeing that he hadn't been impressed at all by her efforts when they'd first made love.

But it hadn't paid off for her. During the entire ordeal she'd been thinking about how hot it would've been to have sex with Chuck in that paradise at the brothel. It was horrible, but she couldn't stop thinking about it. They'd been _this_ close to undressing each other and then he had to go and ruin it.

Dan's slightly altered breathing told her he was slowly waking up from his drowsy sleep even though they'd only finished twenty minutes prior and it was the middle of the night, so she forced herself to think on other things. Her sex with Dan hadn't been bad. It just wouldn't have compared to what would have been sex with Chuck in that jungle. The make-out session alone was…

"That was _amazing_," Dan murmured, pulling her close. She turned herself into him, splaying her hand across his chest and somewhat irritated that though his chest had hair on it, they weren't particularly long…or curly. It was a strange thought, she admitted, since at one point she'd absolutely detested chest hair. But not now. Now…

"I missed you," she said on a quiet giggle.

_What was that?_ She criticized herself. The giggled was detestable in her mind, and it sounded fake. She was surprised Dan didn't say anything about it. _Probably too far gone_, she gathered.

"Mmm." He smirked. "You should miss me more often."

She smiled a little, reminding herself that she'd come through on her goal to make Dan satisfied beyond all measure.

"I won't be doing that for awhile," she assured him. "Not on purpose at least. I'm going to spend extra time with you this next week to make up for my absence these last few days."

She heard his breath catch in his throat and she thought at first it was from surprise and delight, but when he didn't say anything, she became worried.

"Dan?" she asked cautiously.

"There's something I've been wanting to tell you," he said just as hesitantly.

She gulped. "What is it?"

"I canceled my trip to Rome."

Her eyes widened and she turned towards him, propping herself up on her elbow.

"What? But why?"

He sighed. "Well, at the time, I was feeling very on edge about just where you and I would stand by the end of the summer if you and Chuck were alone together for three months in the city."

She laughed. "It's a big city, Dan."

He nodded. "I know…"

"And I wouldn't do that to you," she said, sounding slightly offended. She couldn't force more than a little offense though. She was so guilty. She should be sentenced for life for making Dan feel guilty about his suspicions again.

"I know," he cut in, sitting up.

She pursed her lips with her brows narrowed, wondering where he was going with this.

"But now that we've moved past that…there is another option with my going to Rome this summer."

"You have to _go_, Dan. It's the opportunity of a lifetime," she insisted, hoping he didn't catch her unintentional emphasis in the demand.

"I know, and I probably will, but-"

"You have to-"

"Come with me."

Her eyes widened and for several long moments she couldn't speak.

"What?"

He sighed briefly. "Look, I know it's a lot to ask, but wouldn't it be amazing? Just the two of us in Rome all summer? It'll be our first big trip."

She looked away briefly, thinking about Chuck, and herself, and everything.

"Dan…I don't know…"

"At least think about it?" he offered, promising himself as he'd done earlier in the evening that he wouldn't push her.

She looked at him and searched for the answer she needed that she'd never find in his eyes.

"There's something else," he said, and she thought maybe this could be her way out. "It's something I've been wanting to tell you for awhile, and I think I should have told you from the very beginning. I…" he laughed a little. "I just didn't want to scare you away." He took her hands in his, pulling her up fully beside him.

_Oh god._

"I love you."

Her lips parted. Her breath left her body. And the panic, once again, took over her.

"I'll think about it," she said, and his eyebrows furrowed, wondering about which monumental subject he'd brought up she was referring to. "Rome does sound amazing for the summer," she continued, "but it's also a big decision."

He nodded slowly, a cold sweat starting to develop on his skin.

"I'm just really tired right now though, understandably," she forced a small laugh, which he tried to return. "Can we talk about it tomorrow?"

"Sure," he forced, swallowing the feeling of unending, sick fear consuming him. "I'm sure you're-" But she was already turning away from him and laying back down on the bed, snuggling into the pillows and blankets. "-exhausted," he finished lamely, lying back down and curling behind her. He couldn't help but feel that she'd scooted a little away.

His imagination probably.

…

He walked into the foyer and spotted the blonde halfway down the stairs. As he suspected, his trip had been in vain.

"Chuck," Serena said, surprised. "What are you doing here? It's early. And I would imagine you would be catching up with your father…supposing everything was sorted out."

"Uh, yes it was," he quickly cleared up, "but I had to make a quick delivery. Is Blair here?"

Serena's brows furrowed but then her eyes lowered and she noticed for the first time that Chuck was holding one high-heeled shoe in his hand. She laughed.

"Uh…no, she's not. Is that…is that shoe?" she asked, well knowing the answer.

He nodded, trying not to get too annoyed or embarrassed by his sister's reaction.

"Yes. She left it at the brothel yesterday."

"She left it there? What-did she just fall out of it?" she laughed again.

"I'm sure she'll tell you all about it," he said, forcing a tight smile.

"Oh…kay, I'll make sure that she gets it," she said, maintaining a smile instead of spewing into more laughter. But just before Chuck had successfully handed it over to her, the elevator bell rang and they both turned to see Blair walking out of the shaft, holding the matching shoe to Chuck's under her arm. When she saw Chuck, she dropped the shoe and her purse.

"Chuck," she breathed, her eyes widening as her heart stopped.

Instantly the atmosphere shifted. Even Serena could feel it. There was tension in the air now and it was targeted between the two brown-haired devils before her. Something had happened yesterday. She couldn't pick up on what it had been and she knew now was not the time to ask, but she wouldn't let Blair get away with not telling her eventually. It was clearly something that needed to be discussed and dealt with.

"Would you look at that, looks like Blair's here!" Serena announced far too cheerily.

"I see that," Chuck said, keeping his eyes on the vixen standing stock still right outside of the elevator with her belongings on the floor.

"Well, I'll be upstairs," Serena said quickly, deciding not to press her best friend about the shoe issue right in front of the delivery boy.

"No need," Blair said, suddenly switching her gaze to her best friend who stopped frozen on the bottom step. "Chuck won't be staying along. He clearly just came to-"

"Deliver your shoe," he finished, holding it up before her.

She shifted her gaze back to him. Her eyes narrowed but she cleared her face a moment later, picked up her shoe and purse and stalked towards him, stopping a good foot or two away. When he made little to no effort to extend his arm for her to take it, she snatched it from him. Then her eyes locked with his and for far too long she couldn't look away. His stare was smoldering. It told her everything she knew to be true that she didn't want to be reminded of.

"I'll be right up, Serena," she said without looking away, but Serena had seen the exchange from the beginning and started walking up the stairs to retreat to her bedroom.

"She left already," Chuck informed her.

Blair fought to catch her breath. It was uncanny how the air grew so thin whenever she was around Chuck. Like he was killing her on purpose just by being near her.

"Thank-you for returning my shoe," she said politely. "I obviously didn't mean to leave it behind."

"Of course not," he responded obligingly. "You were in a hurry. I might have lost my shoe too if I was trying escape someplace so quickly."

She cleared her throat. "I wanted to get home."

"Which explains why you weren't here when I arrived five minutes ago," he retorted sarcastically. "Wasn't Humphrey at all curious when you showed up so late, and with only one shoe on?"

Her eyebrows narrowed. "I _distracted_ him," she said, knowing her emphasis would hurt. Cause damn if she'd let him make her weak at the knees again.

He showed no sign of any impact the words might have had.

"I've overstayed my welcome," he said, beating her to the punch.

Her mouth opened and closed as he walked around her towards the elevator. She spun around just in time to see him stepping into the elevator and turning around to press the button.

"Have a good day, Waldorf," he said, as slowly the doors slid shut.

She blinked, then looked around her, confused to as if the whole interaction had been a dream. Then she looked towards the upstairs and remembered the details.

"Serena!" she called out, running up the stairs to her best friend's bedroom.

…

A/N: If you're giving up hope…don't! (That's really all I got. XD) Please review!


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: It's unreal how painful this is going to be to write, especially after the sob-worthy fangirling I did all day today and yesterday with the 6x05 CB still & wedding set pics! O-M-G. But I feel the need to get to the happy ending of this story, even if I have to trod through mud to get there!

Sidenote: I got some pretty comments on the Bart/Chuck scene last chap. I just gotta say that I totally cannot take credit for any of that scene aside from the opening lines about Blair. The rest is word-for-word the exact scene from the show. As I've said on various other occasions, if I don't write a scene out, it's probably b/c I'm using the one with the show (as I will do with the last two scenes in this chap). However, since things have dramatically shifted in this story from how it all went down on the show, I've felt the need to write some of the scenes out exactly as we saw them with a few amendments to how it would work in the structure of the story I've created. That said, feel free to ask if a certain scene I wrote was mine or not. I certainly don't want to take credit for something that truly the GG writers should be getting the thanks for! ;P

*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

…

**Ch.12—**

"Serena! Serena! Sere—" Blair stopped her whiny calling when she found her best friend atop her bed with her diary splayed out in front of her. Several of them actually.

Serena had her brow raised, demanding an explanation.

"What are you doing with my diaries?" Blair fumed, taking them back from her.

Serena watched her best friend disbelievingly as she scooped up the half-dozen diaries from off the bed and tucked them into the large box on the floor at the end of her bed.

"Did you _read_ them?" Blair huffed, staring her down after slamming the cover to the box back on.

Serena's expression changed to pure amusement. "You're lucky that's all I did. When I still had my computer I almost copied them over to have some ammunition for you as Gossip Girl if I ever needed it."

"Wha… but why?" she asked, sounding a little hurt.

"You have to ask me that?" Serena asked, sounding a little shocked, but going off of Blair's naiveté lately, she decided to indulge her. "You'd just gotten together with Dan and I was hurting."

"_S_."

Serena couldn't tell if she sounded angry or guilty, so she ignored it and plowed forward.

"I didn't go through with it, B. You don't have to worry about any secrets coming out."

She looked slightly relieved as she came around to sit on her bed. She sighed.

"Well, that's a relief," she said.

Serena bit her lip. "I think some of those secrets need to come out though, B…"

Blair's eyes flashed to her best friend. "What are you talking about?" she demanded. "What secrets?"

With great restraint, the blonde managed to not roll her eyes.

"I read the diaries, B."

Blair looked at her confused, as if she hadn't the slightest idea what she was talking about.

Serena was not fooled.

"You're still in love with Chuck."

Blair scoffed. "I'm not."

"_Blair_."

"_What_?"

"I _read_ the diaries. Do I need to quote them for you?" She started sliding down the bed toward the box.

"Well, you obviously _misinterpreted_ them or read from a date a long time ago!" she insisted, holding back her best friend from reaching the box, eventually resorting to slapping her arm.

Serena laughed. "I didn't misinterpret. And I know denial when I see it," she said, stopping any effort to reach the diaries again. She stood to her feet and crossed her arms across her chest. Then she walked around to face her best friend. "What happened yesterday?"

Blair's eyes widened in panic briefly. "What did he tell you?" she asked, tensed for condemnation.

"Who?" Serena asked, confused.

"Chuck!" she snapped.

"Nothing!" Serena responded with just as much ferocity. "He was here for barely thirty seconds before you got back. In case you haven't noticed, I've been out of the loop with almost everything going on lately. You, on the other hand…"

Blair sighed. "Nothing happened."

"B…"

"Nothing happened!" she barked.

Serena raised her brows. "I find that hard to believe."

She scoffed. "Why's that?"

"Because, B, two weeks ago you pushed him away disdainfully. Today, you dropped everything in your arms just on seeing him, and there was definite…"

"What?" she snapped.

"Tension." Her eyes narrowed.

Blair gulped. "Tension?" she asked quietly.

Serena nodded, trying to assess her best friend's expression. She'd come very close to hitting the marker, but she wasn't quite there yet.

"B…" She slowly sat beside her on the bed, aware that she moved a little away when she did that. "Did something happen between you two? Wherever you went…"

"We went back to the brothel. Police came…I just stayed to…"

Serena tilted her head to the side.

"Bart's coming back," she announced, turning to face the blonde again, a wide smile again. "Everything's going to be fine." The wide smile was starting to hurt.

Serena smiled a little sadly at her best friend. Then she reached out and took one of her hands in her own. "B… did you cheat on Dan?"

Blair's eyes widened and she ripped her hand away, shooting to her feet.

"_What_? No! I would never do that! And _you know it_. I…what I feel for Dan is…well, I…I have very strong feelings for him," she assured her.

Once again, Serena analyzed her.

"You don't love him," she said, awed by the fact.

"You don't know that," the brunette insisted. "I very well could…well…you know…that thing."

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Serena found herself smiling. Slowly she stood her feet and held her best friend's hands again.

"B… did you really ever stop loving Chuck?"

"Yes."

She raised her eyebrows. "What happened at the brothel?"

She sighed and her shoulders slumped. "I don't wanna tell you, S. Especially because of Dan."

"Oh, B… I'm sure I've done so much worse."

"Not with Dan you haven't. Not when he…" she sighed again. "Oh, I don't know." She moved past the blonde to sit back on the bed. Then she fell back and let her head rest against the plush duvet, closing her eyes.

Serena sat down, but stayed perched on the edge of the bed. She lightly traced designs on the silk.

"How did it feel?" she asked gently.

Blair opened her eyes and lifted her head. "What?" she asked, unsure of what to do with the question.

"Whatever happened…how did it feel?"

She sighed and lay her head back on the bed. "_Horrible_. It was horrible."

"Before or after?" the blonde specified.

"What?" Blair craned her head again.

"Before or after," she repeated, making sure not to give away any true emotion in her voice. "Was it horrible after because you realized you'd made a mistake or during because you didn't really want it and were just doing it for…well, for whatever reason."

Blair opened her mouth and then closed it, and then lay her head back down on the bed.

"I'm sure it's just innocent attraction."

"B!"

"Familiarity…nature running its course…I mean, Dan is right after all. I do tend to get back with Chuck every year about this time." She pouted at that reminder.

"_Blair_."

The brunette whipped her head up yet again. "_What_?"

"I thought you said you didn't cheat," she said carefully.

"I didn't!" she insisted, then sat all the way up and sighed. "Not in the worst way at least."

Serena half-laughed. "I can't believe I'm asking this yet again…but, _what happened_ yesterday?"

It was unavoidable, she decided. And she had to tell someone. If there was anyone she could truly trust in this scenario, it would be Serena. She needed an outside party.

"We made out."

Serena's eyes bulged. For a moment she couldn't speak. "Where—at the brothel?" she asked, disgust obvious in her voice.

Despite herself, Blair let a smile slip through. "There's a gorgeous greenhouse in the back. It's…breathtaking." She sighed contently, but a moment later realized what it must look like. "But I'm not proud of it! It was a total mistake, and if I could take it back I would. I ran out of there as fast as I could, once he stopped—" she gasped and Serena's mouth formed a perfect 'o'.

"Hence the shoe," she said, not pointing out the obvious at first.

Blair cleared her throat. "Yes. Obviously I couldn't go back for it after I'd left the building. I would no doubt run into him again, and then who knows if I would have…"

"Been able to resist?" Serena put in, smiling.

Blair's eyes flashed to hers. "You are being entirely too nice about this for someone who just heard I was _cheating_ on my _boyfriend_. _Why aren't you judging me_?"

"Non-judging breakfast club?" she offered hopefully. It was clear she wasn't buying it. "B, everyone knows the attraction you and Chuck share is anything but innocent. And while, I think you should've waited till _after_ breaking up with Dan to—"

"What?!" Blair sat up and slid off the bed on the other side. "No. No, no, no, no, no!"

Serena's eyes widened. "What? You don't mean…"

"I'm not breaking up with Dan, S! I thought me telling you about this would mean you would help me fix this!"

"But you're in love with Chuck!" she protested.

"I am not. And I will prove it to you."

Serena looked at her doubtfully. "And how are you going to do that?"

"Not only am I going to tell him I _love_ him," she emphasized, drilling the words into her best friend's head with just her stare, "because I _do_, but I'm going to give him _this_." She crossed her bedroom till she reached her vanity and opened a drawer, pulling a small item out.

"Your heart pin?" she asked, flabbergasted. "But that's from high school. I haven't seen that since…"

"That's right," she finished. "And Chuck never got it either."

Serena's jaw dropped as she watched her best friend put the pin in her purse, slip back into her shoes and head down the hall towards the stairs. Her assumptions were confirmed when she heard the ding of the elevator doors opening as Blair stepped inside

When she became aware of all that had happened, she fell back on Blair's bed and ran a hand through her hair, sighing. Of all the times her best friend had been in denial, she was sure this had been the worst.

…

It was surreal. Walking on The Empire's rooftop, catching up with his father, having come so far since he'd lost him in the winter of his senior year, he couldn't have been more eager to catch up. It took effort to maintain a calm, casual appearance.

"I am proud of you, son. Lily told me you stepped up, but I had no idea what you accomplished."

"Thank-you," he said, trying to keep himself from gushing. His father was a very serious man after all. He probably wouldn't appreciate too much emotion. "How was seeing Lily after all this time?"

"I never dealt with such a formidable woman," Bart said, lamenting. "Made me regret not treating her better."

"It would require dedication," Chuck said, lightening the conversation again, but apparently his father didn't take the hint.

"I assume you're talking about Blair Waldorf. But…you two aren't back together?"

He should have guessed the subject of Blair would come up again. Back in high school he hadn't had any real romantic relationships, neither of them had really until Lily – and then Blair. It was something they had ever talked about, but then they didn't talk much period, as he'd more or less pointed out the night before.

It was too soon to bring his father up to speed with the complications of what Chuck and Blair were exactly. Though apparently he knew something of it since he knew they had been together to begin with. It was true that they'd been together briefly after their junior year, but it had been months since then when Bart died. Chuck just supposed he wouldn't remember.

"I made a lot of mistakes after you left. I lost my temper…I lost myself. When I finally realized what I'd done, and I had the ring to propose, I was too late."

Honesty seemed like the best way to go.

"Then she married a prince."

Now he _knew_ his father had been informed by someone. But who? Had Jack spilled his secrets? He hoped not. He wouldn't put it past him, but Jack had been the source of a lot of provoking that led to the mistakes he had made. Chuck had told his father generalities. He didn't need to know the specifics of all his regrets. At least not right now.

"Now she's with Dan Humphrey," Chuck said, half-laughing, half-clearing his throat. "Or at least I think she is," he couldn't help but voice. At Cece's funeral he'd felt helpless and hopeless and like he was living in some alternate reality that was trying to punish him no matter how much good he tried to do and how much family he tried to attain. Then all her accusations to his selfless act of setting her free from her loveless marriage had burned him further. If he had known she would find out, he would have expected the reaction better, but as it was, it left him completely off guard. It didn't matter how she had found out. The point was that she _knew_.

And then the last two days had happened and it had become blindingly clear that it was not over between them. That she still felt something, even if it wasn't love. That he still had a shot at winning her back.

The problem was he didn't know if it was enough. She was so far into her denial, he wasn't sure he knew how to convince her otherwise.

"I don't really know how she feels about either of us," he said, hoping he didn't sound too stressed.

"So…what are you waiting for? Chances like this don't come around very often," Bart said, looking at his son calculatingly with a slight smile on his face. "And no one does a grand romantic gesture better than a Bass."

The suggestion shocked Chuck for some reason. True, Bart had his moments, but Chuck had taken back his priceless engagement ring back to Harry Winston in an effort to move on from Blair, and he'd never gone back to retrieve it, not even after they reconciled or even when he fought for her so fiercely because he was sure there love was enough.

But maybe a proposal wasn't what Bart had in mind. Whatever he knew, he hadn't experienced or really _seen_ Chuck and Blair firsthand. He hadn't felt what they felt; the hurts, the joys, the passion, the uncanny ability to have horrible timing.

And Blair just wasn't in a place he could work with right now, let alone try to go down on one knee again.

…

He stared out at the city from the rooftop of the Empire, cursing himself for what a fool he'd been. His jaw clenched. His hands formed into tense fists at his sides. He felt as if he'd lost absolutely everything, and he had been so prepared to win more. To work in the business that had become his own but now with his father by his side, helping him, making him better, making them better, their relationship. They could be a family again, or for the first time.

"I thought that went well," Bart said, crossing the rooftop till he reached where Chuck stood. "What did you want to discuss?"

Not anymore.

"You said this was a family business," he put in firmly. "What happened to us being partners?"

He wouldn't lose his temper. He _wouldn't_.

"_You_ said partners. I said nothing, and did what was best for my company."

He'd manipulated the situation. Basses were known for that.

"The only reason this company still exists is because I _saved_ it." His face contorted. "All I've _done_ is work to protect your legacy." His voice was rising. His temper was starting to flare but he couldn't help it. Of all the ways his mind had concocted for how his father would return to his life, never had he considered this sort of let down – to put it lightly.

"And pine after Blair Waldorf," Bart said, clearly extremely disappointed by the fact.

"Blair has _nothing_ to do with the way I've handled this business," he fumed.

He'd be damned if he'd let him bring Blair into this.

"You didn't try to trade her for a _hotel_ deed? You didn't let everything fall apart when you ran away from her all the way to _Europe_? You didn't just _3 months ago_ almost _bankrupt_ yourself trying to get her out of her marriage? I had hoped you would have outgrown such foolish behavior. But you're still willing to throw everything away for a girl who's done nothing but toy with you. And you proved that when you took that engagement ring."

His jaw dropped. He started to sweat even as the breeze seemingly coming from out of nowhere started to whip around his face. His father knew it all. There was nothing he could do to protect him from the onslaught of disappointment and disgust.

"You _gave_ me it. You _encouraged_ me to win her back!" he yelled, because it was true. When he'd delivered the ring back to him just before the press conference he'd felt once more, since his father believed in him, that maybe it wasn't too far-fetched to think he still had a shot of winning Blair, and not in the distant future either. _Now_.

"It was a _test_. To see if you were ready to be a Bass, to do the things you need to do to be a great man, and you failed."

"_Failed_?! _I_ got you out of hiding. _I_ took down your enemy! _I_ built this Empire!"

He was crazed. Nothing could calm him. He was out of control.

"No-no-no, the most you have done is used my money to _redecorate_," Bart responded sternly. "Bass Industries needs to be run by a man, not a boy. You've never grown up. Maybe you can start now."

And then he was gone.

And Chuck was alone. On the rooftop. With the wind knocked out of him. And no punch dented into his jaw, no slap across his cheek. Just the disdain and emotional abandonment of a heartless father back from the dead.

Serena's hair whipped around her face as Bart strode past her, not even seeing her as he re-entered the building. She had securely tucked herself in the blocked off corner by the door. She hadn't meant to. She'd just gone in search of Chuck. Despite the fact that Chuck hadn't physically asked anyone to attend his father's press conference, she'd felt it was the least she could do since she hadn't been allowed to be that involved with the investigation and things were a mess involving Blair.

Nate had been busy with Lola, but she managed to pull in Lily who actually went quite willingly. She was honestly surprised that her mother hadn't shown more sympathy after Bart's big announcement, not that Chuck would have taken it well.

She bit her lip and turned to look out the window, wondering if she should go talk to Chuck. She knew he'd need someone to talk to eventually, some way to release the tension and anger he was feeling, but right now what he probably needed was space.

She'd heard the whole conversation. It was awful. Unbearable. She'd wanted to walk out and give Bart a piece of her mind, except she knew no one could defend Chuck like Blair did. No one understood him like she did. Sure, she could indulge him the details on how Chuck had saved the company from Russell Thorpe's greedy, vengeful hands and how much Chuck had changed over the last year, how much he'd matured, but it wouldn't be enough.

So, as crazy as it might seem, and as much as he might hate her for what she was about to do next, Serena decided the best way for Chuck to get past this or maybe through it, was to face Bart again, and have people around him that would support him so he could find the common ground with his father and prove himself trustworthy and strong, because he _was_. She knew that. _Everyone_ did. Just because Blair was his weakness didn't mean he was any less of a good businessman.

She walked to the end of the hall, just in case Chuck might hear, and pulled out her phone.

"Serena," Lily said cheerfully on the other end. "Where are you? You disappeared."

"I…just went wandering a little…"

"Oh-"

"Hey, I was wondering if maybe we shouldn't…have a little get together for Bart? Invite friends, family…it is a big deal after all, coming back from the dead," she said, putting in a couple of half-nervous cutesy laughs just for kicks.

"Oh, that's a great idea, Serena!" Lily gasped, clearly enthused and wishing she'd thought of the idea herself. "Oh, but Bart said he wanted to set up some extra security for awhile and kind of take things easy, lay low."

"He had a _press conference_ tonight, Mom," she said, almost laughing at her mother's hesitation.

"Yes, well…"

"I'm sure he can handle a little society party," she assured her. "Security _can_ transfer to The Palace," she said sarcastically. Lily didn't comment on it.

"Well, I'll talk to him about it. Using your arguments, I'm sure holding a party in a couple days or maybe a week at the most shouldn't be a problem." Serena could hear the smile in her mother's voice and wondered if it was forced. "It's a great idea," she repeated.

Her tone sounded genuine enough. She wouldn't worry about it.

"Talk to you later," Serena quickly put in and hung up the phone.

She returned to where she'd been before at the glass doors and looked out to see Chuck having not moved from his spot, still looking out broodingly at the dark city lit with sparkling dotted lights.

She hoped he would be okay, and kind of wished Blair was there to see him through.

Then again, all things considering, it was probably better that she wasn't.

The blonde turned back around, went down the single flight of stairs and entered the elevator taking her down to the lobby floor.

If she was lucky she could get home to find Blair alone and somehow convince her within the next two to five days that Chuck was the love of her life, and he _needed_ her. Whether he wanted her help or not.

…

A/N: Alright! I'm pretty sure we're out of the woods with solid GG ep-scenes going word for word. I might incorporate some of the dialogue seen on the show, but the exact scenes will not be put in here. Heh. I'll prob update again before the end of the week, because the next chapter really just feels like part 2 of this chap. Heh. It'll have LOTS of drama, and for those of you complaining that Chuck should just stop waiting around for Blair & try to move on, because she's getting ridic….well, let's just say Blair will be getting that message loud and clear and there will be LOTS of heartbreak for her. Think…1x13 heartbreak. PLEASE REVIEW! =P


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: I've posted a poll on my profile page for which story I should focus most on writing after I've finished this one. Please vote. =)

*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

…

**Ch.13—**

She'd avoided his gaze all last night, except when he'd first come in. She'd looked away as quickly as possible though. And when she'd found it impossible to stay in the same room she'd glanced at his profile, just to make sure he wasn't drinking too much scotch – or any other alcohol for that matter. The last thing this party needed was an angry, drunk Chuck. When, as far as she could tell, his only beverage had been an endless batch of ice-cold water, she knew there was trouble. Some time tonight she knew he would burst.

Then again maybe tonight wouldn't be the night. Maybe he could hold out longer. After all, Blair hadn't cracked two days earlier or any time since then when she confronted her about the diaries and her feelings for Chuck and Dan.

Regardless, she knew Chuck wasn't pleased with her. He was probably livid. Especially since she'd made his 'invite' unable to be refused because it had been delivered by Lily. If Serena could count on anything it was not only Chuck's fondness for his step-mother, but the fact that if anyone could come between Lily and her children, it was whoever she decided she wanted to be with romantically. That, and making sure her image shined in the society pages. Both of which would be in full play tonight.

She'd even had invites sent out to reporters and some photojournalists. For a party she'd been hesitant about, Lily jumped right on board as soon as Bart gave the okay. She even made sure to divorce Rufus without a second thought before the big event.

As if on cue, Chuck caught her stare when she walked back through the main room. She stopped and froze, stock-still, unable to look away as his grim anger burned in his eyes. It was subtle though, as Chuck often was in the public eye – when he could help it, which mostly he had been able to in the last year.

Aside from when Diana had claimed to be his mother at Dan and Blair's first big party, and there was also the big incident of him trying to stop Blair's wedding; also when he revealed his first therapist's acts of crime prodded by Louis Grimaldi.

So…he was working on his temper, and she was risking a lot even bringing him here after what Bart had done to him by taking back the company.

But maybe he would see this as an opportunity to prove his father wrong.

Or maybe she wanted him to lose his temper the way he had with Bart on the rooftop of The Empire. Only this time there would be people around that would support him.

Blair would have to be in the room of course.

She really hoped Blair would show up soon. She had been extremely hesitant and only come around in the last eight hours. Dan being the excuse of course. Serena had eventually conceded to allowing Dan to show up as Blair's plus one, despite the awkwardness of him being the son of Lily's most recent ex and no doubt something that would irritate Chuck to the extreme.

Nate had come fashionably late with Lola in tow, which both relieved and bothered Serena. The whole point in having Nate there was to give Chuck a sort of safety net, maybe a bodyguard or a coach in case he felt he was losing control.

But Nate spent most of his time chatting with Lola amongst the hors d'oeuvres, reminiscing about – from what she could catch – how he'd lured her into dating him by hiring her catering service at the big bash Valentine's Day Party.

_That_ was a day she wished she could forget about, but at least it had been pleasant for somebody.

After he looked away and she looked away she decided she couldn't avoid him forever. As annoyed as he might be by her insisting he be there, because he knew it was her behind the whole operation, thanks to her lovely mother, she might very well be the only continuous company he had that whole night. Even Bart had managed to keep his distance, indulging in the pressing interviewers that had arrived, taking fifteen breaks between each one to briefly chat with various Upper East Siders who had attended and clearly needed to see the Great Bart Bass "Risen From The Dead" – as the newspapers had put it on their first front page some days earlier – in person.

Bravely, she took a step in his direction and almost took another when following the sound of the elevator doors opening once again, she heard _Serena!_

She closed her eyes at the poor timing and just before Blair spun her around she caught Chuck's eyes, his stare, his expression, his shock, the heart-stopping emotion spread plain as day across his face.

"Blair," she forced herself to smile as she greeted her best friend.

The brunette looked stunning as always and quickly reclapsed Dan's hand after she'd pulled away from the tight, lingering hug. Serena's eyes dropped as she saw the heart pin pinned to the cuff of Dan's sleeve. Her eyes lifted to her best friend's who was looking at her innocently but with the clear 'told you I would' sign flashing in her eyes.

Serena shifted her gaze briefly to Dan and nodded at him. "Dan."

He returned the nod and suddenly pulled at the collar of his button-up shirt that she was sure Blair had no doubt picked out for him, and insisted on.

"Drinks are that way." Serena tilted her head towards the next room.

Dan smiled briefly. "Thanks-"

"I'll come with you!" Blair quickly said, bringing her other hand around to hold him back at his sleeve when her clasped hand with his clearly didn't prove to be enough.

"No, you won't," Serena interrupted, forcing another pretty smile on both her and Dan. "I need to speak with you."

After an intense eye war between the two girls, Dan announced that he would be right back and Blair surrendered. Proud of herself for getting Blair alone, she turned around in hopes that Chuck was still there and they could confront him together, hopefully with little to no resistance on Blair's end.

Well, Chuck was there, but he wasn't staying put. He was leaving the room to put it plainly, and he was taking a full glass of scotch with him.

Serena sighed and then her lips pursed and her jaw clenched when she heard Blair speak up again.

"You wanted to speak to me, S?" she asked innocently.

Slowly the blonde turned back around to see the wolf in sheep's clothing smiling up at her inquiringly. She was going to demand some serious rewards for having gotten them back together when this was all over.

…

She had pulled on his sleeve a couple times but he only spared her a brief smile and then returned to the reporters. Confused and a little worried about her husband who usually kept his media stints brief and to the point, she tugged a little harder this time as his current interview came to an end.

"If you'll excuse me," he told the wide-eyed men with eager eyes and high-tech recorders.

Lily blinked her eyes innocently and then settled into a warm gaze.

"What is it?" he asked, pulling at his sleeve to make it even again.

"What's with all the reporters?" she asked gently but suspiciously. "I thought you wanted to stay out of the media."

"That was before the press conference, Lily. Now I have to make sure the perpetrator knows I'm not afraid of him. What better way than to indulge these young reporters? Besides, security's tight. We shouldn't have any trouble."

He gave her what she supposed was a loving smile and turned toward the next group, but she pulled him back to her before he could start the interview, much to the reporters' chagrin.

"What?"

She sighed. "As much as I would love you to boost your image, for safety reasons and otherwise, since I'm sure you're aware I'm a bit addicted to that practice myself, I think maybe now might be a good time to talk to your son?"

He didn't so much as blink an eye. "I have nothing more to say to him."

Lily's brows furrowed in confusion and what she was quickly coming to realize, frustration.

"You can't honestly be mad at him. He saved your life from-"

He turned toward her suddenly to shush her and then moved her into a more private section in the next room.

"And I'm grateful to him for that. And for all the things you said he accomplished."

She nearly sighed in relief. Perhaps their relationship hadn't completely shattered the other night. She'd ignored the implications of what would follow Bart's re-takeover of the company because he was back and it all seemed to fit so perfectly for Chuck to have a family again, and for her to have a husband who understood her and appreciated her.

But the nerves in Serena's voice alone when she insisted on a party soon after the conference told her all she needed to know.

Chuck wasn't coping well.

The worst part was that she understood both sides, but the more neutral she remained the more Chuck pulled away from her and she was afraid of what would happen if she lost him entirely.

"But he's still a boy, Lily," he told her as if he was talking to a child. "His obsession with Blair Waldorf has only hurt him and in the long run he'll be better off without her. Until he realizes that, I have nothing to say to him."

She wanted to argue, to say that Blair was the _best_ thing that had ever happened to Chuck, that he would have been lost to all of them had it not been for Blair's reaching out to him after his father's supposed death.

Maybe Chuck had leaned on her too heavily at various points in the following years, but their attachment to each other wasn't a downfall. It was a learning experience that, whether it ended in them together or not, would help their growth as individual people, not hurt it.

She cleared her throat delicately. "I understand your concern, but since you were not here for the last three years of his life, I don't think you can really grasp how important of an influence Blair was on his surviving your well…death, and all that followed."

He sighed and turned to her. "You want me to talk to him."

"I think that would be a good idea, yes," she said, hoping she was making headway.

"What would I say? To forget Blair? To grow up? You know he wouldn't listen to that; and if his reaction at the press conference was proof of anything, he'll cause a scene, and I _know_ you don't want that."

She pursed her lips tightly, knowing he was right but determined to save their relationship all the same.

"He's in the next room right now where there aren't many people. Take him aside and talk to him there."

"The _content_, Lily."

"Try seeing it from his perspective. Maybe instead of pointing out everything you're ashamed of, remind him that you love him and what he did that made you proud."

He looked at her sternly, unconvinced of this approach.

"I know you're not one to get sentimental, but he saved your life and the first thing you do is take away the one thing he was trying so hard to keep in tact?"

"He-"

"Despite where he went off course."

He sighed.

"Offer maybe how you can help," she suggested.

"And I'm just supposed to come up with these solutions somewhere between this room and the next?" he asked with an amused lighter air.

She relaxed some, pleased that she might have succeeded in taking him that first step in the right direction.

"I'm sure you'll think of something," she said, smoothing out the nonexistent wrinkles on the front of his jacket and walking away to chat with some of the society ladies.

…

"Did you tell him?" the tall blonde demanded, looking almost sinister with that disappointed stare of hers.

"Tell who what?" Blair asked, starting to twirl a lock of her hair between her fingers.

"You know who what," Serena said annoyed. "Did you tell Dan you love him?"

Blair eyes widened and she dropped her fingers from the lock of hair.

"You saw the heart pin on his sleeve," she said matter-of-factly without offering any further explanation.

Serena placed a hand on her hip and waited, staring her best friend down doubtfully.

"_What_?" Blair asked, bothered to the extreme.

"You didn't tell Nate you loved him when you gave him the heart pin."

Her lips and eyebrows narrowed in an angry pout.

"How do you know that?"

She scoffed. "I'm your best friend, remember?"

Blair rolled her eyes.

"You couldn't stop talking about how you'd figured out the concept of the heart pin. It didn't just tell that you loved him. You gave it to him after—" she stopped, gasping as the realization came to her. "Oh my god…he told you he loved you, didn't he?"

She avoided her eyes.

"Blair." She pulled on her arm to make her look her in the eyes. "Dan told you he loved you, and so you feel obligated-"

"I do _not_."

Serena raised her eyebrows doubtfully and then the fine brows smoothed over which made Blair even more nervous.

"But that's not the only thing." A smile spread wide across her face. Blair wanted to punch her. "You also feel guilty as hell because you made out with Chuck at the brothel right before Dan told you this, right _after_ you insisted nothing was going on."

She was almost cackling. It made Blair blush furiously and simultaneously want to scream.

"Be _quiet_, Serena," she huffed, pulling her out of the room full of crowded people and into the next less crowded one. "That's not the case and you know it."

She smirked and shook her head, amused. "Stop with the denial, B. We all know you're in love with-"

Quickly, Blair put her hand over Serena's mouth. "_No_," she said harshly, the huffy irritation clear in her voice, but her next words told a different story entirely. "No, I'm not. I _can't_ be," she whispered, and the look right before she looked away and released her best friend told Serena everything and so much more.

"What are you afraid of, B?" she asked, gently rubbing her best friend's arms. To her surprise, Blair blinked away tears. "_B_."

The brunette swallowed and took a step back away from the comfort of Serena's embrace.

"_I can't be_," she whispered again, her voice even smaller. She was about to turn away entirely, away from Serena's truth-prying eyes and find Dan and leave and have sex with him and forget that everything Serena was saying was the truth because it was coming straight from her handwritten diaries.

Everything sounded worse out loud.

But even Serena drew back her outstretched arm when Bart Bass brushed past them with clear intent and made for the next room – the room Chuck was in. Both girls watched after him and then their eyes locked.

"You were trying to tell me something…about Chuck…and Bart these last few days," Blair said, immediately shifting gears. For the moment Serena was relieved because this point was truly the reason she needed Blair to come to the party.

"Yes," she said, as if she'd been running. "Bart took back the company."

"_What_?"

Serena nodded. "At the press conference. Bart took back the _whole_ company publicly; and then in a conversation only I overheard he told Chuck how ashamed of him he was and that the reason behind all the things Chuck had done wrong was _you_."

Blair's jaw dropped.

"That's why I arranged the party," she said on a sigh, her hand dropping to her side. "I was hoping that-"

But Blair didn't wait around to hear the rest. She'd heard all she needed to know, and while somewhere in the back of her head she knew she should consider Dan in the equation of what she was about to do next, she didn't allow it into her driving thoughts.

Because Bart didn't know what he was talking about. Chuck had saved his life. No matter what he had done to her or for her, Bart had no right to disregard that. Especially when he'd changed _so_ much over the past year and gone out on a limb _so_ many times. He didn't deserve this kind of torture from the only person he had truly never gotten affection from and who he craved it from _so_ desperately.

Serena eyed Dan walking back into the room with two drinks in his hands just as Blair took off. She saw the confused look on his face and how he looked between the two of them before going after her best friend and knew this wasn't going to be good. Nobody was going to survive this.

…

Bart found him standing alone by the window drinking his scotch. The reflection on the window was cluttered with the lights and furniture of the room. He couldn't possibly see out into the city. Still, there he stood, and he stared.

"Chuck," he announced, coming to stand across from him.

Chuck took another long swallow of his beverage and then cradled the glass between his hands.

"Father," he said, refusing to look up at him. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Bart eyed him, clear disappointment on his face, already trying to decipher what wrongs his son had committed today.

"How much have you been drinking?"

A humorless smile lit Chuck's face and he looked up at his father sardonically.

"Actually, this is my first glass. _Water_ has been my beverage of the evening."

"When did it change?" he asked curiously, deciding not to deny the statement.

Chuck turned his head on hearing the clatter of heels enter the room and Bart turned with him. A knowing expression crossed his face and disappointment resettled in his demeanor.

"When Blair arrived," he concluded.

Irritated by his father's correct conclusion, Chuck plastered his gaze back on the enticing alcohol in his hands. He sighed.

"Is there something I can help you with?" he asked, holding his anger together by a mere thread.

Bart was just about to respond when Blair burst into their little circle with a confused Dan and a worried Serena behind her.

"You have no right," Blair fumed, turning to Bart much to Chuck's surprise.

"Hello, Blair," Bart said stoically, shifting his attention to the fiery girl in front of him.

"How could you even _think_ of downgrading Chuck to the status of boy when he has done nothing but try to save your company?"

Serena's rough tug on the brunette's arm kept Blair from screeching the end of her sentence. There might be few people in this room but there were more than several in the rest of the apartment.

Bart's expression was stoic, but Chuck's was confused, matching Dan's as he looked between both girls. Serena looked guilty but it was clear that she would get no opportunity to explain how Blair knew what she was saying right now.

"How do you know about that, Blair?" Chuck interjected before his father could speak.

"Serena told me," she waved off flippantly, shifting back to Bart's unresponsive figure.

Bart glanced briefly at Serena before looking black at Blair tiredly with the slightest hint of annoyance. The other two boys however, glared at the blonde and Serena knew if there were any survivors in this she had no chance of being one of them.

"What goes on between me and my son is of our business Blair, not yours."

She folded her arms across her chest and raised her eyebrows. "Not when you use me as blame for everything he's done."

Bart's eyebrows narrowed, faintly impressed by her audacity to talk to him so brusquely without a hint of respect, but mostly it further increased his negativity towards who she was and especially in regards to his son.

"Were or were you _not_ sold in exchange for The Empire, Blair? _By my son_," he said, his fierce eyes never leaving hers. Blair felt as if she was being swallowed but her jaw only clenched. The hurt Chuck had caused her for the hotel incident weren't even a speck of dust in relation to her fury at Bart Bass.

Chuck closed his eyes at the reminder and Dan stiffened. Serena's shoulders slumped as the hopelessness crumbled around her.

"We didn't finish the deal," Blair finally said. Bart's blank stare demanded an explanation. "Jack and I—" she paused when Chuck clenched his jaw. She could feel it, feel the hurt every time she put her name and Jack's in the same sentence. "-we didn't finish it," she finished quickly.

"There's a deed with your name on it within the hotel vaults," he said.

"You weren't there," she said, her eyes more condescending than his could ever be.

"It was set up even if it didn't happen. It was Chuck's decision."

"Brought on by your _brother_!" she shot back. "Do tell me, _Mr. Bass_, since you were alive all this time, were you responsible for Jack's schemes in tearing down your own _son_?" she demanded angrily.

Everyone's eyes widened, though Bart's only slightly. Serena's jaw dropped. Dan shifted nervously.

"Don't be ridiculous. Jack didn't even know I was alive right away."

Blair scoffed. "I find that hard to believe."

"Believe what you want, Blair. I'm not going to stand here and argue with another _child_ about how I think my son should behave and what was clearly a bad idea."

Her head reared back. "I am not a-"

"A _child_? Was it not you that ran out of the brothel halfway through a tryst with my son when you're clearly engaged _elsewhere_?" He glanced at Dan, then at Chuck, and finally back at Blair. All their expressions had shifted.

Bart stepped away and then returned his gaze to his son.

"Lily asked me to speak with you, to make peace with how things ended between us the other night, but I'm not going to try anymore until you start hanging around the right kind of people." He gave a quick glance to the rest in the group and then walked away.

And there they stood, all four of them, feeling incredibly uncomfortable with the lack of space between them.

…

"You _cheated_ on me?" Dan finally said, outraged.

"I was going to tell you…"

Chuck laughed and looked away, drinking more of his scotch. He would need another glass after this. He was sure of it.

Dan's eyes burned. "I _knew_ something was going on. I knew it. You were so mad that I spied on you, but-"

"Hardly," Chuck muttered beneath his breath. Dan's eyes flashed to his.

"And you!" He pushed past Blair. "You told me nothing was going on between you two. You lying, son-of-a-"

Dan brought back his arm to punch him, but Chuck responded before he made contact.

"Nothing _had_," he said angrily through gritted teeth. "And, while I know you're going to find this hard to believe, it wasn't Blair who stopped things between us. It was _me_."

He laughed. "You're right. I don't believe you."

Chuck glanced at Blair who was looking hopeless with tears in her eyes, but suddenly it didn't matter. It was despicable.

"Suit yourself," he said, turning back to Dan. "But I'm not the one who's been lying to you. And not just about what happened at the brothel." He looked down at the cuff of Dan's sleeve and surprisingly smirked. "Don't think you're so special, Humphrey. You think she loves you because she gave you her heart pin?"

Blair's face went white as a ghost. Her stomach dropped.

Chuck turned fully to face his nemesis. "This isn't the first time she's thrown her _high school_ –" he glanced at Blair in disbelief "heart pin on someone she didn't care for." He brushed past him and walked out of the room. Discreetly, and at a safe distance, Serena followed.

"Don't believe him, Dan," Blair quickly rushed to her boyfriend's side. "I know what I did was wrong, but we didn't have sex and I swear I'm going to make it up to you. It'll never happen again. You're the one I want to be with. Not Chuck. Never Chuck. Not again."

"Oh, _shut up_."

"I love you!" she cried out, grabbing hold of his sleeves, her eyes desperate and watery as the heart pin fell off of his sleeve and fell to the floor.

As if it had always been, the room was now empty.

Dan pried her fingers off of his jacket.

"We're done, Blair." He started to move away, but she went after him and pulled at his arms again, coming in front of him so he couldn't walk out of the room.

"No, Dan. Don't. Don't go."

"Blair, _stop_."

Her mouth snapped shut.

He sighed roughly, clearly irritated. "You have to face the facts. You've been lying to me-"

"-no."

"You _have_." He nodded even as she shook her head. "Maybe not before the spying, but as much as I want to blame Chuck for this whole ordeal, he's not the only one to blame here. And – I can't believe I'm going to say this – but you deserve most of the blame." She shook her head, but he nodded, dissuading her. "_You_ are the one in a relationship. _You_ let him think you wanted him. _You_…" he sighed, "are still in love with him."

"_No_," she said, clutching his sleeves tighter. "I _don't_ love him. I love _you_."

She nodded to encourage him, but he didn't buy a second of it.

"I…have waited _so_ long to hear you say that." She relaxed a little. "But what you seem to have forgotten is that we became friends this last year before we got together. So, I _know_ you. I know when you're in full-blown denial. And _this_, Blair? This is it. It's not me being paranoid anymore. It's you being afraid of being with Chuck."

She shook her head and pulled at him, told him he was wrong, but it did nothing. Her tears did nothing. Because the suspicion and the doubts he'd had before which clearly never went away had been proven tonight, and now, just like she'd feared, he'd broken things off. She was left with nothing. No one. And her heart pin that had fallen to the floor had cracked under the pressure of his foot when he accidentally stepped on it walking out of the room.

She bent her knees to pick it up and held it in her hand. This was all she was left with.

A broken heart.

…

Serena found her in her room, sobbing in to her pillow. Instead of announcing her presence, she slid into the bed beside her best friend and cuddled her to her.

"What happened?" she asked gently, though she knew well enough.

"He ended it," she said on a sniffle.

"I'm sorry, B," she said softly, even if she knew it had to happen and she was glad for it. Being with Dan wasn't good for Blair. It encouraged deception. And that wasn't just her jealous side talking because she'd stolen the love of her life.

Blair sighed shakily. "I knew he was going to, and I think I knew it was going to happen even if Bart didn't blurt out what happened the other day, but…" She turned her face to look up at her best friend. "I just wanted to prolong it, you know?"

Serena smiled sadly at her and nodded.

"I'm sick of all the hurt that break-ups cause." She snuggled back into Serena's arms. "And Dan made everything so easy. He loved, he didn't hurt. Everything was perfect." She sighed.

"Except that he wasn't Chuck," Serena added quietly, hoping Blair wouldn't turn on her vehemently for the comment.

To her surprise, she didn't. On another sigh, she said instead, "Yeah. Except that."

Serena's eyes widened a little and she swallowed, hoping she would deliver this speech successfully this time.

"B…"

"Hm?"

She propped herself up slowly and Blair followed suit, turning to look at her.

"You have to tell him."

She sighed and looked away. "It's not going to change anything. If anything it'll just make him madder at me."

"No," Serena said intently, "you have to tell _Chuck_ how you feel."

Blair's eyes widened and she sat up completely.

"What? I can't. I just…I can't do that," she said, starting to babble in panic mode.

"Why can't you?" Serena interjected so Blair wouldn't get light-headed.

"Because I'm scared, S. Because he's hurt me too many times, and there's no way I'll survive it if he does it again."

"B—"

"And I know, I know, he's wonderful now. He's changed. He's matured so much. But…he hasn't been in a relationship since he's changed. He hasn't been successful with that."

"Because he's only wanted you, B!" Serena said, exasperated.

"I know," she cut in. "And I understand that, and I love that. But you see why I'd be concerned about my well-being? I'm the guinea pig in his 'changed' state with relationships. If he relapses-"

"What if he doesn't?" she shot back, determined to shake Blair out of her stubborn panic. "What if he's perfect?"

"Nobody's-"

"What if the two of you live happily ever after and you're resisting that now because you're _scared_."

Blair swallowed and looked away.

Serena sighed and returned to her gentler approach. "I told you at your wedding that you shouldn't pretend to be someone you're not in a fake life just because you're scared of the real thing."

She turned to look at her.

"A life with the man you truly love." She nodded, encouraging her.

She sighed. "He does love me," she admitted. Serena nodded with her. "And I…" she crumbled. "Oh, I love him too, S. I love him so much I can't breathe, because it scares me how much I love him."

She sobbed into her best friend's chest and Serena was shocked by how intense it was. Whether she had liked Dan or not, she had never loved him, but she had never stopped loving Chuck, never stopped being _in_ love with Chuck. And keeping that feeling inside her had _physically_ caused her pain.

"Oh, but I can't tell him," she said, pulling away from Serena on a sniffle. "I can't tell him, S. It doesn't matter if he loves me. I've treated him like crap ever since the accident. He has no reason to take me back, especially after tonight."

"You have to _try_, B. If he doesn't take you tonight, then maybe he will tomorrow. Or the next day. He's the love of your life, and he's fought for you for _so_ long. Just give him what he's given you. That's all he wants."

She sighed. "I could try," she said softly.

Serena nodded and smiled encouragingly. "Yeah. You could."

The two laughed amidst their tears and held each other. Then, despite the late hour, they rummaged through Blair's closet and found suitable attire. She couldn't very well confess her undying love in her negligee. Not when so much was at stake.

…

The entire way there she told herself it was going to be successful. She looked beautiful. She had finally figured out who she loved, what she wanted and what she was going to fight for. And besides that, ever since the accident, Chuck had never stopped fighting for her or telling her he loved her, never stopped being selfless, except in his moments of desperation, but those were few and far between and followed up closely by apologies, love declarations and setting her free from a loveless marriage.

It was hard to imagine how she could have ever chosen anyone over him, at least since the accident, or since he'd started to change, really made that effort to be the better man and to let her have her happy ending elsewhere.

But as the elevator car lifted her to the penthouse suite and the doors finally opened, her heart pounded, her stomach dropped, her skin sweat, her legs shook, and she remembered every single reason for having pushed her love for him to the wayside these last months.

There he sat by the window, a half-glass of scotch in his hand and an empty bottle of scotch on the bar top. There was a half-empty bottle on the table.

He was drunk.

There was no way this was going to end well for her. True, Chuck had always been able to hold his liquor well, and she knew he wouldn't lose his temper like before. But that didn't mean his words wouldn't be colder. It didn't mean her heart wouldn't break worse than it ever had before.

And she deserved it.

So, she walked into the suite and tread her ground.

Chuck heard the sound of heels and turned to look at who he'd very much expected to come knocking on his door. He gave her a once over and looked back into his half-empty glass of scotch. He had two urges: one to drink down the rest of the glass and get another refill and another to just throw the glass across the room.

Instead, he set the glass gently down on the table and pushed it away.

Slowly and extremely cautiously, as if she was walking on broken glass, Blair made her way across the room without a word until she was just shy of three feet in front of him. He looked at her again and gestured to the stool beside him to sit on. Just as cautiously she moved to sit on it. The chair squeaked a little, sounding like a thunderbolt in the silent room.

"You look nice," he commented, sneaking a peak past her half-opened jacket.

She swallowed and looked down briefly, having forgotten with it all what exactly she had decided to wear.

"Thanks."

"Coming from somewhere?" he asked, fighting the urge to reach for his scotch again.

"Just home," she said. He nodded. "With _Serena_," she specified.

"No Dan?" he asked casually, trying his best to keep the bite out of his voice.

"No," she said quietly. "We broke up."

"Ah…" he mused, and his tone of voice said it all. Blair tensed for the outpour of bitter words and nasty insults. She'd been in this situation before. She knew how it would end.

"Last resort then," he finished his thought. "I do love when this happens." He reached for his scotch this time, but she grabbed it before he got to it and held it out of reach. His hand remained in mid-air, confusion and frustration clear in his face, but moments later he snapped out of it and nodded for her to take it away.

"Thanks," he said when she returned with a glass of water. "I should've stayed with this all evening." He took a long drink and set it gently on the table.

"It was a stressful situation," she offered.

"What do you want, Blair?" he asked, not wanting the conversation to draw out any longer.

She lifted her head to look up at him and decided that while this was going to end badly it didn't mean she couldn't change her approach.

"I know you're not going to believe me," she began. His expression didn't shift, reminding her slightly of Bart's stoic face earlier that evening. Indecipherable. "but I came to tell you I realized I'm still in love with you," she said, holding her breath for his response once she'd gotten the words out. Her hands got somehow sweatier and they stuck to the dress in her lap.

"I believe you," he said.

She blinked.

"I believe that you're in love with me. I believe that you needed the push of Dan breaking up with you to get you to realize that. I also know how you expect me to respond to this from past experience."

She blinked again, surprised. _Where were the insults? Wasn't he supposed to shoot her down?_

"And that's why there's no way I am going to take you back."

Her heart dropped. _What?_

"You see, love isn't enough. You have to believe each other, trust each other, and you can't be the last resort."

She opened her mouth to respond but no words came out.

Grateful for a glass in front of him, he reached forward and swallowed some water.

"You told Dan you loved him tonight out of desperation. Which is the same reason you gave him your heart pin."

"It broke," she interjected, as if this would be some credit to the conversation on her part.

His eyes flashed to hers. "Hearts do."

She swallowed.

"Look, I'm not immature and sixteen anymore. I'm not going to tell you you're a sweaty, run down old horse that was only appealing as an untouched virgin, because that's not true."

Hesitantly, she looked up at him, unsure of what to feel but feeling nowhere near good.

"You're beautiful and I love you." He sighed. "But," he almost laughed. "The thing is you were right at Cece's wake when you told me that you don't love me the way I deserve."

Her throat tightened and tears pricked at the corners of her eyes.

"You never set in stone that you weren't in love with me. You just heavily implied that was the case. The fact is you _are_ in love with me, and you _do_ love me, and it is _really_ good to hear that after all this time you finally want me again. But…" he shook his head. "It's not enough." He looked her over and finally met her eyes sadly. "You need to go home."

She swallowed and slid off the stool only after he looked away. She made it all the way to the elevator and was about to press the button when an urge overwhelmed her. She turned back to face him.

"Chuck." He turned to look at her, waiting. "I'm really sorry for everything I did. If I had it to do all over again, I would've done things differently. I would've…" she sighed. "I would've believed our love was enough, and I would've been there by your side when you woke up in the hospital."

With shaky fingers she pressed the button and looked away. The doors opened almost immediately and she stepped inside, never turning back around until the doors had closed again.

Fact was she had shocked him, and it would give her too much hope to see it.

…

A/N: Somehow I expected this to be way more…sad. Lol. XD (sorry to those of you who wanted B totally crushed. This is just where the story took me.) I guess if I keep Chuck mature and all I can't have him calling her a whore and throwing glasses across the room, even in his grief. XD Hope you enjoyed. I am so sorry this took so long to get up, but don't be expecting another update for awhile. I will try to get it to you sometime within the next two weeks, but my school schedule is just so draining and so crazy. It's hard to find time to sit down and actually focus on a continuing story.

Please review! =)


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: I took down my poll b/c a really awesome CB fic idea came to me and I want to get on it ASAP as soon as this fic is finished. I will take into consideration the results of the poll though, and use it as my #2 priority most likely when writing the next fic. On another note, I am aware that all of you were traumatized by B's ILY to Dan last chap, but all parties involved knew it was out of desperation and was just plain pathetic and _untrue_. Plus, if you've read my fics before, you know I bring everything to its close nicely and that there will be a happy ending. That being said, I hope you keep reading and enjoy the remainder of this story. =)

*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

**Also, A BIG THANK-YOU TO ELLEN! I was doubting myself with this chapter and you helped me through it. Thank-you so so much. =)**

...

**Ch.14—**

For the next seven days, she woke up, lounged in her nightwear, watched Breakfast at Tiffany's on repeat, ate macaroons, brooded and even let herself cry a little.

On the eighth day, one day past the length of a week after the huge fiasco that was Bart's "Welcome Home" party resulting in the demise of her relationship with both Chuck and Dan, Blair woke up from the first night she'd actually slept all the way through, blinked up at the ceiling and started to laugh.

Sleeping beside her, Serena heard the strange noise and rubbed her eyes, wondering if she'd fallen into some third dimension or if maybe Blair was laughing in her sleep.

"Blair?" she asked groggily.

Blair was still laughing. She tried to stifle it now as she sat up and turned to her bedside table, only to find a picture of her and Dan sitting there.

She laughed harder, turned to Serena, pointing at the photograph and laughed harder.

The laughter was a contagion, and no matter how hard the blonde tried to focus her brain energy on finding a reason behind her best friend's laughter she couldn't help but give in and laugh with her.

When Dorota burst into the room as if an alarm had gone off and she was hastening to the girls' rescues, the girls laughed harder.

The maid did not join in however. She stared, blinked a few times, shook her head and then left the room muttering in polish.

"Okay, B—_B_." Serena was still laughing but they were losing air and she had to make sure neither of them had a heart attack. "What is it? Why are you _laughing_?" she giggled.

Blair waved her hands in front of her face, trying to calm herself as she came to grips with why exactly she was laughing. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes but she forced herself to come out of the hazy limbo that her ceaseless laughter had sprung up from.

As if on cue, Dorota re-entered the room and handed both girls a glass of water to which they quickly thanked her and furthered their laughter to mere smiles.

"I…" Blair began, pushing her finger onto the photograph. "_Dated_ Dan Humphrey?" She laughed a little again and then shook her head, like she was waking up from a dream and incredibly confused as to what she'd been doing with the specimen smiling up at her from the photograph.

"Yeah…" Serena half-laughed before a dreadful thought occurred to her. "B…don't you remember?" she asked hesitantly. Because no matter how much she wanted the whole idea of Dan and Blair never having been together to never have existed, a loss of memory was a loss of memory and that was not a good thing.

"Oh, I remember." She wrinkled her nose and set the picture frame back on the table. "I just…for the life of me I can't remember _why_."

Serena sighed, wondering if this was the next stage in her best friend's grieving process, because emotions did not do a 180 like this overnight.

"As I recall you were incredibly grateful to him for all he'd done for you in the past year, with Louis and all that and then…" she paused, now confused herself. "Well, I don't know. He kissed you at the Valentine's Day party Nate held and the next thing I knew you were in denial of liking him."

"Huh."

"B?"

"Why didn't I just get back with Chuck after the whole thing with Louis was dealt with?"

Serena's eyes widened, feeling somewhat trapped, because if Blair didn't know her thoughts, who did? She surely didn't know. It had seemed as weird to her as it must have to Chuck – except for the fact that he felt inferior to any guy who had a shot of being with Blair.

"I don't know." She paused. "…don't you?"

Her best friend looked truly confused. "Maybe I just wanted to see if something could happen with Dan?" she asked, still a question, still not sure. "I mean…he did tell me he loved me."

She looked so confused Serena just wanted to hold her and tell her it was all just a dream.

"But…he didn't tell you till recently, right?"

Blair nodded, her eyebrows still furrowed and a clear pout on her lips.

"Maybe…" Serena sighed, tangible thoughts starting to form. "Maybe you were just too scared of being with Chuck?" She offered.

Slowly, Blair's worry wrinkles started to smooth out.

"I mean…that's what you told me last week, right?"

She turned to her. "You're saying I was just delusional the whole time I was with Dan?"

Serena shrugged. "You'd been through a lot, B. And Dan had been by your side through all of it, helping you the best he could. It's the perfect set up for a chick flick," she pointed out with a quirk of her lips.

Blair's face went from accepting explanation to pure offense. "I am _not_ some lead role in a _chick flick_," she said, scandalized. "I'm _Blair Waldorf_."

Serena laughed. "I know. I just…"

"I belong in a _classic_."

She smiled in response and a knowing look crossed her face. "Do you want to watch Breakfast at Tiffany's again?" she prodded.

Blair was about to applaud the suggestion and fervently agree, but another thought crossed her mind instead. "Ye-_No_." Her face shifted completely.

"_What_? Why?"

Blair slid out of bed and bounded to her feet, practically dancing to her closet.

"I have somewhere I need to be first." She gave her a look over her shoulder. "You can get started without me." She winked.

Serena's jaw dropped and then she grinned. Blair _never_ came in late to Audrey. The only excuse for this could possibly be that she had a plan in motion, and it was going to be good.

…

Dressed impeccably and feeling more herself than she had in a long time, she found herself walking up familiar steps to a familiar place, where she'd felt more at home than anywhere else lately. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest because she knew this wouldn't be a fun conversation. It would be awkward and it would hurt, but it had to be done. He deserved an explanation.

A part of her wanted to shake him and tell him it was all his fault, because a year and a half ago she wouldn't have touched him let alone set foot in his loft for any other reason than help in saving Serena. He was supposed to be with Serena, love Serena. Always.

She didn't know when it all got screwed up, but she was too preoccupied with mending ways with Chuck and putting Dan behind her to focus on fixing her best friend's relationship, even if she had come to realize she was partly to blame for everything that had happened between them.

She knocked and pushed the door open as she did, welcoming herself in as if she owned the place, like she had for the last couple months.

"Hey," she said when he looked up at her from where he sat on his stool by the counter. She swallowed and closed the door behind her, hesitantly walking towards him.

He turned back to the papers he'd been writing on as soon as she closed the door. Despite the fact that he had spied on her, she had betrayed him – _cheated_ on him. He had no intention on speaking with her.

"I was hoping we could talk," she offered hesitantly once she was about two feet away from him.

"I'm busy," he answered brusquely.

"Doing what?" She glanced down at the paperwork he was scribbling down on.

He sighed, clearly irritated and wanting her to leave.

"I'm finishing the application for the writers' program in Rome." He paused and looked up at her. "The one I was going to bring you on."

She swallowed. "Only because you didn't trust me," she finally said.

His eyes narrowed ever so slightly, giving her the response she knew she deserved.

"What do you want, Blair?" he asked, turning back to the application again.

She bit her lip and told herself to breathe. "I came to give you an explanation."

"To what? The cheating or the pretending to love me?" he asked as casually as if they were discussing the weather.

"I never…"

"Did you ever even _like_ me, Blair?" he asked, raising his head to look at her.

She gulped. "I thought I did," she offered.

He shook his head at her in disbelief.

"You were so…so good to me, Dan," she said sincerely. "When you kissed me…at Nate's Valentine's Party, my instinct was to respond, and when Serena told me I was in denial of my feelings for you and I read your book…" she sighed, exhausted already from having to rehash what she'd been thinking about nonstop for the last week and especially this morning. "It just made _sense_."

His jaw clenched, but he turned his body completely to face her, setting down his pen and pushing away the application.

"I know you only told me you loved me out of desperation, but on the off chance I'm wrong-"

"You're not," she quickly interjected. "I don't love you."

"Well, thanks for clearing that up," he snapped, sliding off the stool to walk away.

"Dan, wait!"

Reluctantly, he stopped.

"I'm sorry I lied to you. I'm sorry for everything. But you have to understand, you were the only stable thing in my life for months. I didn't want to lose you. You're one of my best friends, and you told me flat out that if I wasn't going to be your girlfriend I couldn't even have you as a _friend_."

Slowly, he turned around. He mulled over what she was saying, knew she was right about what she was accusing him of, but the guilt that settled inside him wasn't enough to forgive her of her sins.

"That doesn't excuse what you did," he said, his eyes hard and cold.

She hung her head. "I know. I should have…" she sighed. "I should have broken up with you before any of this ever happened."

His eyebrows narrowed and he crossed his arms across his chest tightly.

"Are you saying you wish we'd never been together?" he demanded.

Her eyes watered. She wanted to leave. This hurt. It hurt that she'd deceived him like this.

"I wasn't myself, Dan…"

He threw out his hand, frustrated. "Oh, but one day out with Chuck and suddenly you're exactly back to the person you wanted to be?" he scowled.

She closed her eyes, unable to meet his gaze. "I know it's hard to understand…"

"No. No." He shook his head and walked towards her, stopping a foot away. "You told me you loved me."

She looked up at him slowly. "I didn't-"

"I know you say you didn't mean it, but-"

"I _didn't_, Dan." She backed up, suddenly feeling claustrophobic. "Those words were meant for Chuck." Her eyes widened, hoping he would just believe her. "I just didn't want to lose you," she said quietly.

He stared at her in disbelief.

"So, what was I, Blair? A rebound?" he gawked.

She forced herself to breathe. "You were what I needed, Dan. You were."

"You told me Chuck didn't have your heart anymore. I thought that was implying that _I_ had it," he ground out.

"So did I!" Now her arms flew about her and then her hands formed into fists. She wanted to scream.

"So you were just _delusional_?" He was fuming. "I was just one giant mistake."

"It's not like that…"

"Oh, I think that's exactly what it is."

"Dan-"

"Don't those words mean anything to you? As I recall, in the past they have been pretty significant."

Her mouth opened and closed but she couldn't find the words to defend herself. It seemed nothing she said was enough.

"But not with me," he continued with his thought bitterly. "With me you can just throw words around and not mean them."

"Dan!"

"No. No, I get it. You weren't 'yourself'. You were just 'grateful'. I was your 'safe option'."

"You were!" she burst out, exasperated.

For some reason that made him stop.

"With all the chaos going on in my life, you were the one thing keeping me going. I was trapped in a loveless marriage to Louis and I firmly believed that by being with Louis I was saving Chuck's life, but you were always there – always my friend. That fact never wavered. And when we were together, you and I, we were a stable, normal couple, and I needed that. I needed to feel _normal_."

She was on the verge of tears, but she wouldn't dare let them fall.

"If you think you and Chuck are going to last, you're fooling yourself."

Her mouth snapped shut.

"You and Chuck have never worked, not for long at least and this time will be no different." He started walking towards her again, slowly, deliberately. "And remember, Blair, he sold you to his uncle in exchange for his hotel."

She swallowed.

"No matter how many times he apologizes or how he tries to make amends, that fact will never change."

His voice was daunting and she hated the words he was saying, but to give him the satisfaction she knew he deserved, she let him in on her little secret.

"You don't have to worry about that, Dan. Chuck didn't take me back."

He blinked, confused and then almost amused. She didn't like it.

"I'm surprised," he said, as if she had guessed otherwise. "He's fought for you long enough. Looks like it was a game to him all along-"

Her jaw clenched. Now he was playing with fire.

"He heard me tell you I loved you," she said, forcing herself to stay calm. She felt sick when the corners of his lips curved. "As I'm sure you can guess, when I repeated the same words to him, they didn't hold much meaning."

He crossed his arms across his chest, now extremely amused. "Maybe you should try handing over the heart pin to him. Might hold some sentiment," he drawled.

Now she wanted to throw something at him, but nothing was nearby.

"You shattered it when you left the party."

He pursed his lips. "Guess you're out of luck then."

"I just came to give you an explanation," she said again.

He nodded. "Yes, well, I guess you did what you came to do then," he said. Then he crossed the room back to the counter where the application sat.

"Dan…" she tried again, tired and frustration.

"Good-bye, Blair."

Her arms dropped to her sides and she turned away from him, walking to the door and leaving all remnants of Dan behind her; their relationship, their friendship, everything.

…

Her first errand hadn't gone well and she couldn't imagine this could go any better. In fact, she gathered this would go worse. But if Chuck needed proof that she was in it for the long haul, if she had any chance at all at winning him back, this was where she needed to start.

"Mr. Bass is waiting for you," the receptionist told her, gesturing to the large wooden door behind her desk.

"Thank-you," she said, taking long deep breaths as she crossed the short distance to Bart's office. She paused just before twisting the doorknob in remembrance that she'd come to meet Chuck here when they were together.

Things had been so different then.

Bart looked up when she stepped inside the room. He looked her over once and then glanced at the inch of space where the door was not touching.

"Please close the door, Blair," he said tiredly.

He did not want her there. That much was clear. But she'd even gone so far as to schedule an appointment and in the back of her mind she'd remembered very clearly that he did not deny first appointments from anyone.

She did as he instructed and then approached his desk, circling around the chair in front of it to sit in.

"No need to get comfortable," he said brusquely. "You won't be staying long."

Ignoring the strongly-worded suggestion, she sat on the chair anyways.

"I came to talk to you about Chuck."

"I gathered, but there's nothing to talk about. I am not on speaking terms with him right now and I do not particularly enjoy your company."

"He _saved_ you," she almost cried out. She was pissed. Chuck had risked a lot, had plotted and schemed with her to free his father who he thought had _died_.

"I know," he acknowledged as if it made no difference at all.

She scoffed and looked on in disbelief. Then her lips pursed tightly together and she shook her head.

"You have no idea what he went through when he thought you died, when we _all_ thought you died."

He glanced up at her briefly.

"Death of a loved one is always a tragic incident. I'm sure the billions he inherited made up for much of that though."

"He went through _hell_," she cried out this time. "And Jack, your _brother_, deceived him. If it hadn't been for Lily-"

"Lily is the only one who has managed to keep things running around here. Something my son should've been doing. All Bass men are naturally born deceptive to one degree or another. The means Chuck went to in order to defeat Jack only shows how much of a boy he is and how little he's learned." He paused, giving her a once-over even as she looked about to scream. "You were no help, I assure you."

"I _saved_ him." Her eyes narrowed.

He laughed.

"He was desperate and alone and heartbroken and about to jump to his death off the top of Victrola, and _I_ talked him out of it. If it wasn't for me, your son would not be alive."

She knew it was selfish, but Bart wasn't giving her any credit, wasn't giving credit to _anyone_ but Lily.

"And I can see how good for him you've been since then," he said, his voice dripping in sarcasm.

She ground her teeth together, infuriated and shot to her feet.

"I told you you wouldn't be staying long," he said on a slightly annoyed sigh.

This only made her more furious.

"You don't know Chuck," she spat. "And you don't know me. You don't know _us_."

He laughed again, but she pushed forward.

"Chuck made some mistakes, and maybe I took advantage of him when he'd finally turned his life around, but all you see are the logistics of your company." She shook her head, almost feeling sorry for him. "Until you start really seeing your son, that's all you'll ever see."

He pursed his lips and leaned back in his chair, looking at her. "That's all I need to see," he said plainly.

She shook her head. "No. That's all you can handle. Nothing Chuck does will ever be good enough for you. If he stopped loving me, if I didn't go after him, if Chuck made investments and achieved all the goals you believe he needs to in order to grow up, you still wouldn't acknowledge it."

"It won't happen," he said, clearly convinced. "Regardless of your convictions, Blair, I _do_ know my son and he's nowhere near ready to have any part in my company. But I never said he couldn't be. He just has to put in some effort, drop his romantic notions, and…" he sighed. "Come back to New York."

That made her pause. "Come _back_?" she asked, confused.

He nodded. "He left this morning."

"Where did he go?" she demanded. Chuck was her next stop. She couldn't let him interrupt her schedule like this.

He waved his hand about. "I don't know. Overseas I think. Probably as far away from me as he could manage."

Her jaw dropped and he glanced up at her. He sighed, just wanting her to go away and feeling more sure than ever that his son was doomed to fail because this girl in front of him clearly wanted him now, but from what he could tell, her determined persistence in all matters regarding his son would not be permanent. She was completely unreliable and he wanted nothing more than to get her out of his office, so he finished the conversation by giving her exactly what she wanted – the shortcut version at least.

"Jack went with him," he said, not offering another word.

She blinked, taking in the information. When Bart picked up the phone on his desk to make a call, she knew he was done with her. She'd made no progress with her little appointment. He was set in his thoughts and he would not be swayed, but he had given her one very important update that might just alter her approach to the situation.

Chuck was gone.

She left Bart's office and pulled out her phone once she reached a quiet place in the lobby, ignoring the practiced smile on the receptionist's face as she departed the office in her haste.

Not ready to fill in Serena on all the new information and knowing for sure that Chuck wouldn't pick up his phone, she did the next best thing.

She called the second most despised person on her contacts list.

She sighed when he didn't pick up.

"Jack. This is Blair. I know Chuck's with you. Call me."

…

A/N: I wasn't going to incorporate Monte Carlo, but it looks like I will after all. XD Please review. =)


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Hope you enjoy this chap. As you may have guessed, Chuck does return to your computer/phone screens with a bang. ;)

*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

…

**Ch.15—**

Chuck smirked at the sight of his uncle twitching in irritation beside him. Jack was in a world of his own, glancing down at his ever constant vibrating cell phone that he continued to ignore what were presumably unanswered text messages and a nearly full voicemail.

"You could just turn it off," Chuck suggested, only half-concentrating on the card game in front of them.

Jack grabbed a flute of champagne from one of the waitresses passing by, and then one after that before she'd gotten too far away.

"Why would I do that?" he asked, as if it had been the most bizarre question he'd ever heard.

"So I don't have to have you escorted out," Chuck said casually.

They shared a look and Jack finally mirrored his nephew's smirk.

"I mistook a mentally unstable girl for brokenhearted and vulnerable," he admitted.

"Ooo." Chuck shook his head and smiled. "Been there." He turned back to the game. "Next time don't give her your real number."

"I didn't," Jack said. "Her father's a private investigator."

He laughed.

"Don't get too smug. I'll just pass her on to you."

Chuck looked up at him and glared briefly.

"No, I know. You're with-"

"Blair," Chuck suddenly said, cutting him off.

"I was just about to say-"

"No." Chuck nudged his uncle a few times, so he'd turn his head to see who'd just walked into the room. "_Blair_."

He barely glanced at her before turning back and resuming counting cards.

Chuck didn't miss a beat.

"Jack."

"Hmm?" He avoided eye contact.

"Wait. Did you _know_ she was going to be here?" he asked, shocked.

"Well, I…"

Before he could answer, Chuck took his phone and skimmed through the missed texts, calls and voicemail messages. As he'd suspected, they were all from Blair.

He sighed. "I got her first message when we got to the hotel."

"Did you _respond_ to it?" he demanded.

"There were conflicting interests." He shrugged.

"_Jack_."

He finally looked up at him. "I told her what city we were in. She's been trying to get a hold of me since then to find a more specific location."

"You never told her?"

"Apparently she figured it out on her own."

Chuck looked past Jack to take Blair in again. She was stunning in the spiraling red and gold dress that hugged her curves and the hair style that kept her hair down while still displaying the nape of her neck. It was perfect for a casino, and perfect for seducing him. He wanted to strangle both of them, but his little brain had decided it was time to wake up.

Just then, Blair spotted them and started walking towards their table.

"Look." Jack turned to him in his seat. "I know you told me you want nothing to do with her right now."

Chuck lifted his eyes to his uncle's.

"But from the very beginning, even when I was trying to ruin your life and take advantage of every possible weakness I saw, I knew it was the two of you. Hell, I slept with her and got you to sell your hotel in exchange for her-" Chuck's jaw clenched. "And still, two years later, there is no one else for either of you."

He studied his uncle, watched him as he stood up from his seat and turned to leave just before Blair reached them.

"Stop the cycle. Give her a chance to explain."

Chuck was just about to explain to his uncle that he'd already given Blair her chance, but Blair was suddenly before him and his uncle had walked away in the direction of the bar.

"Is there a seat available?" Blair asked.

Chuck looked up at her, dumbfounded and still trying to contemplate whether or not he'd take his uncle's advice into consideration.

When Chuck said nothing, Blair took the initiative and sat in the chair Jack had vacated. Once she was seated, she looked at Chuck and found his eyes pinned on hers in shock and awe.

"You fought for me all year. I've come to fight for you."

"Will you be joining the game, Miss?" The dealer asked from behind the table.

She glanced up at him and then set some very large piles of chips on the table, pushing them towards the center.

"You say you need more than words to be with me. You need more than me telling you I love you, and rightfully so. You need actions; trust, being chosen first, proof that I really do love you and that I won't toss you to the wayside again."

His lips parted.

"This is my proof," she said, smiling softly. "Or at least a start."

Chuck looked at her, the pile of chips he'd presented and then the dealer when he asked if Chuck would accept the bet she'd placed on him.

"Cause this time, Chuck," she reached out her hand and grasped his firmly, "I'm all in."

Without looking back at her or moving away, he nodded to the dealer and continued the game.

…

Hours later they made it back to Chuck's hotel room. He stopped in front of the door and turned to look at her. Despite the fact that they were much more relaxed than when she'd first arrived, his mind was still set.

"I haven't changed my mind," he said.

"I understand," she said weakly.

"I appreciate the support tonight though. It was good to see that you do believe in me and trust me."

"I wouldn't have given my money away to anyone else," she said proudly.

"Hey, I won that money fair and square," he insisted, allowing the moment to lighten until he realized they'd been staring and smiling at each other for far too long.

He cleared his throat. "Goodnight, Blair."

"Wait." She grabbed his hand and electricity zapped through them both.

He swallowed and slowly turned to her.

"Please give me another chance," she requested softly.

"Blair," he sighed.

"We can take 'I love you's totally out of the equation."

He raised an eyebrow at the suggestion.

"Hear me out," she said, pulling his hand closer so he was now facing her and unknowingly he let his other hand slip into her other one as well.

Their fingers interlaced.

"We'll start over. Fresh. In the beginning of any relationship much of the basis is on attraction, most of it physical. I think we can say without a doubt that we're both physically attracted to each other, right?"

He didn't want to respond, so he countered her. "Where are you going with this?"

"A new beginning, Chuck," she urged. "Let me prove to you I'm worth it by taking it slow. Doing it _right_."

He wanted to smirk at the repeated words but the plea and the moment were too serious for him to make it lighthearted this time.

"If I recall correctly," he said instead, "when I suggested that route it didn't get us anywhere good. I don't think you want to start from that place again."

"Why not? The only reason things went wrong was because you were scared. All this time I've been scared of trying again with you because of all the hurt from the past, but…I trust you now, Chuck. I'm willing to risk it if you think we're worth it."

Her sparkling eyes could get him to do anything she wished at this point. She was so beautiful and so earnest and he wanted to forget everything that had happened and just start fresh as she had suggested.

"I don't want history to repeat itself," he said gently.

"It _won't_," she insisted.

"Blair." He slipped his hands out of hers and held her wrists captive. "Now isn't the time for us to be together, even if I wanted to be."

"But Chuck-"

"My father-"

"I talked to him," she said.

His eyes widened. "You _what_?"

She nodded. "I tried to get him to understand you, to understand _us_, but he wouldn't give me the time of day. He's horrible, Chuck. Horrible. I wish you'd never spent so much time trying to win his affection."

His jaw clenched. "He's my _father_."

"And he's stolen everything from you."

"Except you," he said softly, a bittersweet smile gracing his lips.

She nodded and half-laughed. "I know you wish it was the other way around."

He opened his mouth a little to deny it, but couldn't find the words to say without giving her too much hope for where they stood.

"If I could do anything I would," she said. "But I can't."

He was quiet.

"But I'm still not leaving," she said firmly.

His eyes flickered up to hers.

"Whether you take me back or not, I am staying in this hotel, in another suite if I have to, and I am going to follow you on whatever course you decide to take."

He blinked, surprised, and his eyes widened in disbelief.

She looked down briefly at their hands and how he was smoothing his thumbs over her skin.

"I told you in the past that we were never really good at being friends." She swallowed and looked up at him. "We either loved each other or hated each other. We couldn't make it go back to how it was before because we were just too _involved_ with each other to ever really let go."

He watched her carefully.

"But you've grown up so much since then, and I think I'm starting to." She bit her lip. "I think, if it's what you need to feel sure, that maybe we could be friends?" she offered.

It was awhile before he responded, but first he dropped her hands.

"I don't think I can do that, Blair." He swallowed.

She blinked away what she thought might be the beginnings of tears.

"Or…I can't think clearly about it tonight," he said.

"Wh-Why-"

He covered her mouth with his hand and completely invaded her personal space.

"Because, Blair," he whispered. "After everything you've done and said and how hurt and frustrated I am, that we both are, the only thing I can think about right now is how long it's been since…" he trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

Her eyes bulged when he stepped just an inch closer and she could feel the end of his sentence pressing against her stomach.

Slowly, he pulled his hand away.

"Chuck," she breathed.

He forced himself to step away.

"Chuck," she said again, latching onto his arm. He didn't turn towards her, but he stopped stock still where he stood.

She closed the distance between them, turned his head towards her and kissed him hard. He tried to push her away, but her grip on his face was so tight and her nails digging into his scalp was so deep that he'd be causing himself more pain than sanity if he tried to push her away more than twice.

That and the fact that she'd managed to steal his key from him and open the door to his hotel room.

The door closed behind them and he managed to wrench himself away and put some distance between them.

She waited, wondering if he would order her to go or if he would let her stay, if they would make angry mindboggling love-sex or if he would go so far as to have her removed from his room, if he would say he hated her or if he would forgive her.

For the longest time he just stood there breathing heavy with hooded eyes, staring at her.

"What do you want?" she finally asked.

His eyes raked down her form, imagining just how he would take her.

"If you don't leave now…" he threatened, and she was sure it was all over. He didn't finish his sentence. He just stared at her, willing her to beg and plead, to repeat everything she'd already said or to lung at him again.

So, on shaky legs, she turned for the door, shutting the lights off just as she was about to reach for the handle, in case for some bizarre reason he wanted to go straight to sleep. Maybe he needed to. Maybe it would be better that way. Clear his head.

But as soon as the lights were off, he had her pinned to the door and was breathing hot and heavy against the side of her face as she stood there, her back to his chest. Her breathing was stifled.

"This is not what I should be doing, Blair," he said breathlessly, tilting his head so he could kiss the bare skin on her shoulder all the way to the crook of her neck where he could nuzzle his head.

Chills shot down her spine.

And then all of a sudden he spun her around so she was facing him. After one more piercing stare he pressed a passionate kiss to her lips and was suddenly forcing her further into the room, unzipping her dress, unraveling her hair, plunging his tongue into the depths of her mouth as they deliciously undressed each other and landed onto the bed.

Tumbling, biting, wracking their brains for any semblance of sanity.

It was gone. All of it.

Because it had been so long since they'd felt this passion, since she'd felt his member jacked up to the hilt inside her or since her nails had run indented lines into his back, since her mouth had wrapped around him and sucked him dry or since he'd peppered every bare space of skin on her body with precious, sensual kisses.

Since they'd cuddled in sweet afterglow.

The latter was yet to be determined, but the passion between them that had been so tightly put under control since the incident in the brothel greenhouse was now suddenly unleashed.

And it was so very real.

Relationship status could wait till morning.

There was no chance of returning to that line of thought now. Lust had consumed their minds. They didn't think. They just acted, just felt. They were like animals finally set free, running recklessly in the wild and consuming each other with a passion volatile enough to destroy the whole earth.

…

A/N: If you're one of those readers who is still beyond pissed at Blair and think she should do a million things plus one before she can ever be considered a valid candidate for being with Chuck, please don't go off on a rant in your review. I haven't yet decided if they're going to be a couple right away in the next chapter. This story isn't much longer for this world, but Blair will probably be doing at least a little more of fighting for her beloved. ;)


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Don't judge. I'm updating now.

*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

…

**Ch.16—**

When Chuck woke the next morning, despite the fact that he was quickly becoming horny – no doubt because he could not stop staring at Blair's naked body twisted amidst the sheets beside him, he knew that more than anything what he needed to do was have a talk with Blair, a long talk. One that might very well decide their future. Deep down he knew it was probably inevitable that he would take her back, because well, like it or not, she was his soul mate. He'd known that from day one. But the next step in their journey was still one to be decided, and in order to make any progress whatsoever, he needed to get out of that hotel room and take a walk.

After showering quickly and dressing, he strode quietly to the door and then paused, remembering how he'd pinned her to it the night before, how as persistent as she'd been all evening, it'd been him who had truly initiated their throes of passion. He turned to look at Blair still sleeping peacefully on the bed, still tangled in the sheets.

Quietly, he walked over to her. Much of her body was still showing even in the twisted mess. The sheets were like mere bandages wrapped around her body. He picked up the large blanket that had fairly early on been tossed to the wayside, and covered her with it. Then, feather-light he brushed aside the hair that had fallen into her face. He would've stayed longer, breathed her in, kissed her forehead, but he didn't want to wake her.

Only one of two things would happen then – she would either pull him back into bed with her or they would have to talk; neither of which he was prepared for.

Despite it being around lunch time, there was only one room service cart in the long hallway and the maid was not attending it. He patted his pocket to make sure he had his wallet and keycard in it and proceeded to the elevator.

Glass. It was made of glass. He could see the lobby of every floor as he went down, and to the world outside of the hotel and casino. Even though half his bank accounts seemed suddenly lessened due to his father's re-takeover, he had earned quite a bit saved up on his own during the last few years and having spent already half a week cheating the card games with his uncle had put even more green in his pocket.

The bartender smiled at him when he slid onto the nearest stool and examined the glass of scotch that was handed to him. He hadn't been a heavy drinker in the last year and he was proud of that. But this wasn't the first time he'd been to this hotel and this bartender was no young guy. He could read Chuck like a book sometimes, and the weary expression he brought with him told him he needed a drink.

"Up so early, nephew?" Jack asked, squeezing Chuck's shoulder as he took a seat next to him and lifted his hand to the bartender for a drink of his own.

Chuck didn't respond, and not because he was still trying to wake up. He couldn't get her out of his head and he didn't want to talk about it.

"I…uh…saw a pretty female follow you up to your room last night," he teased. "And we both know she didn't work here or was a mere pretty face."

Chuck turned to his uncle smiling at him with a twinkle in his eye and gave in to the glare that was begging to make itself known. The look of disgust quickly followed with a scoff when Jack's expression didn't waver.

When he looked back into his still full glass of scotch, Jack's face turned from delighted to only slightly amused and maybe a touch disappointed.

"Don't tell me you kids didn't work things out," he said in disbelief.

"Things may be more complicated than I let on," he confessed.

"They always are with you two, aren't there?" Jack drank down his glass in one gulp and signaled the bartender for another. "I would have thought though that you would have at least attempted to talk things out, or…" Chuck's barely audible sigh told him everything he needed to know. "But there was not much talking done last night, was there?"

Chuck said nothing. There had been plenty of talking but it hadn't helped anything. He wasn't sure the sex had done much in the long run either. He had just known he needed to _feel_ her and that was the end of it.

Besides, not letting on with the details would get Jack to stop prying.

"Are we playing more today or what?" Chuck said suddenly, needing the conversation to turn away from all things Blair.

Jack raised his eyebrows and blinked, extremely amused when Chuck finally looked at him.

Chuck's eyes narrowed. "_Cards_," he specified.

Jack chuckled. "How about we take a day off," he suggested. "Go fix things with your girlfriend. However you see fit." He winked, set some cash on the counter and walked away, leaving Chuck dumbfounded and with an even heavier burden weighing him down. He had spent the whole year deciding not to let time or people or moments pass him by. He had had no trouble fighting for Blair before. Despite what she'd done, that she'd come in at the worst possible moment expecting he'd just be waiting at her beck and call for him to take him back, since that had very well been the case ever since the accident, despite that she'd chosen Dan when it could've been them, he couldn't let himself regress.

He wouldn't avoid this conversation. He wouldn't let his own stubbornness sway him one way or his blind recklessness that sometimes consumed him when he was in the vicinity of her sway him the other. They needed to handle this like adults, because this could very well be their future.

...

She didn't wake up the normal way, not by the light streaming through the window or Dorota barging in on her because it was too late for either appointment or the waning day. There was no call from Serena or even the nightly dream of Chuck nuzzling her or kissing her or…sexing her awake.

No. It was the maid service. Opening the door because she hadn't heard them knock and finding her still under the covers. The gasp the girl gave out made Blair think a little bit about her surroundings and just why there was an unfamiliar maid – with a cart – at the doorway and when it all came back to her she was glad the blanket was there to cover her nakedness barely covered with sheets.

She couldn't remember covering herself up during the night, or the late morning. In fact she had insisted on being rid of the covers because she was sweating so horribly after their heaviest bout of sex and too tired to fumble her way to the shower. She had kept the sheet though, because…well, she knew she would get a chill.

"Oh-oh, I'm sorry, Miss! There just…there was no sign on the door and no one answered and…"

Blair waved her off, still not awake enough to look disdainfully at her or spew some wretched words that would no doubt insult her and leave her hating herself for the rest of her work day.

Besides, she had her own problems to deal with and she needed every second of energy she could get for it. She was already wondering if she'd lost the capability to do it all together.

Chuck was nowhere in sight and he could very well dismiss the night before as one last night of passion before they cut all ties once and for all because he wouldn't let her take advantage of him like she had.

They'd had several of those. Long nights of passion they swore would be the last. He also had no foot to stand on when it came to accusations of taking advantage of. Maybe she was worrying over nothing.

"I'll come back later," the maid said, hurriedly pulling out of the room with her little cart. Blair had forgotten she was still there and so wound herself in the big blanket and headed for the shower.

When she came out Chuck was there sitting on the freshly made bed, and she had to wonder for a second if he'd made the bed himself.

"Maid was just here," he said before she could attempt to explain why she was staring at him so strangely. She nodded in acknowledgement and crossed the room to dig in her purse for her travel comb, which she promptly found and went to the window to the floor length mirror to use.

He watched her for awhile, watched how her hands grasped the brush and how smoothly it ran through her still wet hair. He was mesmerized by it, by her. He noticed too how she'd taken one of his silk robes to dress herself in, wondered if she was wearing anything underneath, since from what he could tell, the material was hugging every single curve.

"Where did you go?" she finally asked, when her spinning mind could take the silence no longer. She could feel his eyes on her and it made her fingers tremble. She had to grasp the brush even tighter to make it stop.

He shook himself out of the trance she'd put him under.

"To get a drink." He paused. "I talked to Jack."

She turned around, surprised by that news. "You did?" When he nodded in response, she continued, "What…" She had to swallow quickly in between breaths because the oxygen was escaping quickly. "What did you talk about?" She asked, hardly making eye contact until his silence once again began to eat at her.

"You."

She blinked and then gulped. "And?"

He sighed and stood up. Slowly he walked towards her, stealing himself for what he was to say when he saw how visibly tense she was and the fear that she was failing at hiding in her eyes.

"I don't know," he finally admitted on a mournful sigh.

She swallowed again, but somehow found herself somewhat encouraged. She stood to her feet, set down the brush on the table beside the mirror and grasped his shoulders, tightened that grasp to get him to look at her.

"What can I do?" she asked, her eyes softening and her hands easing up on him. "I will do anything, Chuck." Her hand drifted across his chest till it rested on his heart beneath his jacket. She fingered the fabric and swore she could actually feel his heart beat.

"I don't want to hurt you," he whispered. She looked up at him. "I don't want some sort of revenge for all the pain I went through these past months."

She waited on baited breath and her heart fell when he moved away from her. He turned away, forcing his hand through his hair in a frustrated, weary, aggravated fashion.

"I…I just…" he sighed and shook his head. "I don't know."

She walked up behind him and slid her arms around his waist as she laid her head against his back. Wary comfort settled over her when he covered her hands with his own.

"I'm all in, Chuck," she murmured.

He turned so he was facing her, holding now only one of her hands and smoothing his thumb over her ring finger.

"You said that last night," he said.

She swallowed, feeling both crestfallen and hopeful by the feel of his thumb on that particular finger. Heat swelled in her in what she could have sworn was the beginning of sweat droplets when he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it softly.

"I need proof, Blair," he said, turning her hand over and kissing it as well. "Proof that you won't leave me again, that you won't find something to lead you in any direction that isn't with me." He lifted her hand to his face and cupped it against his cheek. "It's selfish, but I need it."

Finally he looked up at her and saw the sweet sadness in her eyes.

"I've been selfless for a long time, and I plan on continuing to do so. It's been good for me, and good for everyone around me. But just this once, I need to have my moment of complete selfishness. I'm scared. Just like you were before. And I need some proof," he whispered the last part so she could see the desperation in him, just how much he wanted to give in but how he needed something more tangible than what she'd given him to really be at peace with the two of them again.

"What can I do?" she asked again, softly, quietly, so much so she wondered if he could hear her.

"Tell me that this is real."

Shivers rippled through her. "It's real. I'm ready to be with you. You're it for me. You always have been. I'm just finally admitting it openly. Whether you refuse me or not, that fact will never change. We are meant to be together." She took her other hand and gently weaved it through his hair. He closed his eyes under the sweet caress.

"I need more time," he said when five whole minutes had passed and she'd patiently waited.

That was a lie. He'd had too much time.

"Okay," she said slowly. "Take all the time you need," she added a little more brightly.

He looked at her and suppressed a groan because he knew what his answer was. She'd proved herself enough and he'd believed her, because how many times had he royally screwed up and begged for just what she was asking now – forgiveness and a second chance with her heart beating on her sleeve and the most sincere of apologies?

"I just don't know what my answer is yet, and I need it to be the right one."

He knew his answer. He knew exactly what it was and that it was right.

"I understand," she said, swallowing to cover what she felt were tears pricking at the corners of her eyes.

"It wouldn't be fair to either of us if I made some rash decision."

Except it wasn't rash. He'd been thinking about it nonstop for the last week, how the one sure way he'd know they could make it is if she was in it for real, and with more than just words or some future rendezvous.

She would have to come after him, fight for him, even when he wouldn't accept her. Just like she'd done time and time again during their senior year at Constance and St. Judes, fighting for him to find himself and to give him the courage to tell her how he truly felt.

And she'd come. She'd fought. And she was here waiting patiently for his decision. She wasn't leaving. Her heart was in his hand. He'd willingly put it there.

"I completely agree," she said, taking him out of his heavy overanalyzing in his head.

He forced a smile and then released her hand, gently taking her other one out of his hair and leaving them rest by her sides.

"I'll come back later," he said, already starting to move away. "I promise."

She nodded, and again repeated, "Take your time." His forced smile as he neared the door made her press on, so he'd know, "I'll be here. I won't leave."

He could find nothing more to say, so he nodded and forced that smile one more time and slipped out the door, feeling very much like he needed to hold that glass of scotch in his hand again and not drink it, and also that a breath of fresh air sounded like a very good idea.

As for Blair, she mourned the silent emptiness of the room and went to sit on the bed. She smoothed her hands over the freshly made covered bed, remembering their night and how while it was wild and animalistic, they had reconnected on a level she'd nearly forgotten, in a different way than this same time last year. It had felt like make-up, renewal sex. Sex didn't even seem like the right word except by all appearances that it was just as crazy and wild as their kind of sex almost always was.

But there was a tenderness amidst the back scratching, shoulder biting, rough grinding of it all, of the way he slipped in and out of her, careful to replace the condom with another every time they went for another round and brushing the sweaty locks out of her eyes when they lay on the bed gathering their strength, draping his arm over her waist when they were finally ready for sleep and turning the temperature a little cooler in the room when he became aware of her starting to push off more of the covers, adjusting it once again when he felt goosebumps pop up on her arms and legs.

And she'd felt his heart beat rapidly as he plunged into her, their chests smashed together. She felt it and knew it was for her. She just knew somehow and she'd put the moment in her mind to forever remember it.

So yes, for awhile, she just sat on the bed and remembered. Then the chills ran over her again and she wrapped herself in the extra blanket folded neatly in the wardrobe. She walked to the window and looking out at the beautiful city of Monte Carlo, realizing for the first time that she'd put on Chuck's robe instead of one of the fuzzy, cotton ones left out in the suite's bathroom.

…

A/N: I considered not staying up the extra hour and a half to finish this and just writing another hundred words, but I decided I really wanted to get some more reviews for something fresh, so here it is. Hope you enjoy and that I haven't disappointed you all that much with how I'm going about concluding this story. As always, thank-you for reading and I hope you review. =)


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: Sorry for the delay. You can blame my friend, Mary (scarlett2u), for telling me to write in the moment of what I'm inspired for instead of trying to direct my writing attentions to almost finished multi-chaps. Speaking of, this is either the last or second to last chapter to this story. Worry not though, there will be an epilogue. =)

*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

…

**Ch.17—**

He bypassed the bar this time. He wouldn't risk another encounter with dear old Uncle Jack. Besides, he needed some fresh air. And to _think_. He knew what his answer was, what he would come back to tell her – or maybe what he would make her come out to hear from him – but for some reason he felt he needed to justify it. And to do that he had to go through the list of every reason why he shouldn't.

All over again.

The problem with this excellent plan was that everywhere he went all he could think about was what he'd be doing with Blair if she was there with him in that moment. Down at the waterfront he imagined holding her from behind, his arms wrapped around her waist, kissing the side of her neck as he pulled the hair out of her face so he could nestle himself closer to her. Her eyes would be rapt with joy and fascination as they watched the sun set on the beautiful panorama.

Then there was the beach. He didn't walk in the sand now, but watching the people playing and lying in it now, he could imagine Blair there; her footprints slender and small, quickly covered when her feet lifted from one spot to the next or the waves lapping the seashores washed them away.

And now he was at a restaurant. He couldn't recall what its name was and had no real desire to do so, but he could imagine Blair sitting across from him, lifting her glass of champagne and toasting to something, happiness maybe, or love.

He could see the sparkle in her eyes and feel how contagious her smile would be, the perfect earrings that would dangle from her ears, drawing emphasis to her long, graceful neck and wisps of hair floating around the sides of her face. And her eyes, those deep brown eyes that he always, _always_ got lost in.

_He was so in love with her._

"Is tonight the night?"

Chuck looked up to find a kindly, gentle-faced old waiter coming by with a pitcher of water. When he realized there was something of interest to the gentleman in front of him, he looked down and saw that he'd taken out the Harry Winston from his pocket again and was holding it open in its velvet box in his hand.

He took the damn thing everywhere.

Even if it had been a "test", his father had still gotten that ill-fated diamond ring in his hands again, and for reasons Chuck couldn't understand and maybe didn't want do, Chuck never took back again. He held onto it. Just like after Jenny. And after Louis. And after himself.

"Maybe," he said contemplatively, looking the ring over one last time before shutting the box again and slipping it into his pocket.

"Water?" the waiter asked, smiling.

Suddenly Chuck felt nervous, like this was Blair's father and he needed to impress him.

An idea hit him.

"Sure," he said, suddenly eager. He reached for his phone and ran through his contacts before dialing a number as the old waiter chuckled and walked away, shaking his head.

This was it. This would decide it for him. If this phone call went wrong, he knew it was just not meant to be.

_So, you're leaving your future with Blair up to a single phone call?_

It was personally reasonable.

_What if the person is having a bad day? What if they hate you?_

Thinking logically, letting a simple phone call, one person's opinion and permission decide what he'd been continually admitting and then denying the inevitably of was preposterous!

But he was desperate.

"Yes, Mr. Waldorf?" he heard his breath hitch and hoped the man on the other end hadn't. He was a father though, and he was Blair's, so he probably had. "There's something I need to ask you."

…

Two hours later and he was still sitting there. He had switched to scotch. He made sure not to drink too much, just sips here and there. He wasn't going to let himself drunk, especially if he ended up needing to make some sort of grand gesture tonight. But he'd given up on water.

He'd said yes. Harold Waldorf had said _yes_. Blair's _father_ had given him permission to marry his daughter. After he'd walked her down the aisle to wed a prince and had probably even heard her gushing over Dan Humphrey – not to mention hearing how she'd complained about him in their earlier days. He couldn't understand it.

What man in his right mind says _yes_ to allowing his daughter to marry _Chuck Bass_, or any Bass for that matter? Sure, the Bass name carried success, wit and charm, but it also held the potential for hurt and pain. And where loyalty was considered… well, it wasn't always a guarantee.

Despite the fact that he'd changed considerably for the better, his reputation wasn't exactly one to be proud of.

But Harold Waldorf had said yes. He'd almost sounded _relieved_; and proud too. He _wanted_ Chuck Bass to marry his daughter.

It was too surreal.

It also made things complicated, and he didn't know why. He'd told himself that Harold's approval would be his sign to go through with what he'd planned on all along three years ago. There was a reason he still had that ring on him, and it wasn't for sentimental reasons. Or to give it to anyone else. Be it hell or high water, he would do it if anyone tried to take that ring from him again.

So, what the hell was he waiting for? A plan on how to propose?

No. That was the least of his problems.

The truth was he was fragile now, more than he'd ever been before. For all the times he'd wronged her, Blair had broken his heart so many times he didn't know if he could take it if she did it again.

She abandoned him after the accident.

She married Louis, even though she claimed to love _him_.

She chose Dan over him when they could finally be together.

When he really had no one else who would really understand what was going on with who he had believed was his mother, she had refused him based on past experience. After months of him proving himself, she'd reverted back to not thinking he'd changed and was just trying to manipulate the situation to get him back.

She'd given him a million mixed signals recently, the most horrifying being her altering between loving Dan and not loving him and the same emotions regarding himself.

And then she came to him just expecting he'd forgive her. That he would take her back. Because he wanted her badly. He loved her. So why wouldn't he take her back instantly? He should be grateful, relieved, ecstatic.

But he wasn't. Because it was a war inside him, waging between what he wanted so desperately and what he was afraid would happen again.

It was a risk. A big one. To give her the opportunity to take his heart dangling forever off of his sleeve by the tiniest thread, always threatening to tear and smash onto the floor. Just like her literal pin had done.

As if she didn't have his heart already. As if she hadn't _always_.

He wanted proof from her that she was actually serious, that this wasn't just some rash action and that she'd pull away when she thought he'd hurt her and run scared, that she wouldn't find something far more appealing in someone else as soon as they came along. Then again, she'd found a VanderBuilt, a prince, random Nate look-a-likes and a nobody from Brooklyn who apparently shared her literary taste and still come running back to him.

If he didn't let her in one last time, what proof could she really give him? She'd said all the right words and he could almost completely believe her. Just below the surface he knew he did, but deep down he doubted.

That little voice he knew whispered to her that she wasn't beautiful all the time, whispered to him that this wouldn't last, that something would happen to make her change her mind, and he didn't know how to turn it off. Or how to overcome it. And the more he thought about it, the louder it got.

It was poison to him, to _them_, and he was drowning in it.

…

He returned to the hotel suite at exactly 9:05. Blair was cuddled up on top of the covers on the bed, her head snuggled deep into the pillows. He smiled a little, but he was fidgety and he'd developed a cold sweat. He ran a hand through his hair and slipped out of his jacket in an effort to calm himself.

"Blair," he whispered, nudging her gently as he sat on the bed and moved to the center of it next to her.

She moaned a little in her sleep but didn't open her eyes.

"Blair," he said again, a little louder. He swept the few strands of hair that were dangling in front of her face off to the side.

She was so beautiful.

She moaned a little more but still didn't open her eyes.

"I got you something," he teased a little.

Her eyes snapped open.

Then her eyes lowered to what he was presenting her with. An open little velvet box. With a sparkling diamond ring inside.

Her jaw dropped.

"Blair Waldorf, will you marry me?"

…

A/N: Before you start yelling and screaming at me (or glare accusingly at your computer/phone screen), I beg of you to take some deep breaths and have a little faith in me. This is not the end. I would not leave this many loose ends hanging, even if they could be resolved in an epilogue. Hope you can hold tight till the next chap. I will try my very best to update it much sooner than this one took. XD (Oh, and please vote on my profile concerning one of my other stories!)


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: The beginning of this chapter takes place between the time Chuck was at the restaurant and when he came back to the hotel to propose to Blair – to avoid any confusion. Last chap here, peeps! Next will be the epilogue, hopefully up in a few days.

*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

…

**Ch.18—**

He left the restaurant at 8:15 p.m., more because he was bored of his surroundings than he had made any resolute decision. _What the hell was he going to tell Blair? _

He couldn't just waltz back into the hotel room and inform her that he'd made no progress whatsoever. He knew he wanted to be with her, that there would be nobody for him but her. Ever. But he also knew that she'd poisoned him so badly this last year that even though he knew every word she was saying was true it was still hard to believe. She'd told him to wait for her, that she loved him more and more every day, that she'd always loved him, that not living with him was the hardest thing she'd ever had to do in her life. And then with the flick of a switch she wasn't in love with anymore and she was prancing around Brooklyn with Dan Humphrey like he hadn't even been a thought in the back of her mind.

He didn't want to re-examine all the mixed signals she'd been giving him in the past week or so before he left. It had been exhausting enough the first time.

So, what could he tell her? That he'd weighed the pros and cons and come out the other end as helpless and unsatisfied as before? Because that's what he had done and that was where he was now.

He just wanted to walk up to a stranger and demand they tell him what to do, for whatever price, but he knew he wouldn't do what they told him. He wouldn't let a stranger dictate the one decision that would change the rest of his life. That was ridiculous. But he couldn't linger in limbo either. It was as bad as telling Blair to wait during their senior year of high school, using his inability to say 'I love you' as his excuse.

He could've told her he loved her before she left for Tuscany unknowingly alone. He'd been so consumed in his feelings for her, just like he'd been this year before the accident and every desperate moment after. But now was the reality check. The way of what was comfortable, that he'd grown used to in recent months, even if it hurt, or taking that leap of faith one last time because not being with her and seeing her with someone else was the most unbearable pain he'd ever experienced.

The cars whizzed past him on the street. He'd told the limo driver he would walk back to the hotel or that he'd call him up if he got tired. He only added that last bit because he was annoyed at the bizarre look on his face. In the man's defense, it was five miles to the hotel and he was not wearing walking shoes, but he'd walked at least half the way to the restaurant – give or take a mile or two. He could do this. And he needed the extra time. He _had_ to figure out what he was going to say to her. He'd promised he would return, and if there was one mistake he was constantly hitting himself over the head with it was how many times he'd deliberately run away from her, for whatever reason.

He heard playful laughter behind him and tried to tune it out. He didn't want to get annoyed by people having nothing to do with him that in their own right were allowed to be happy. It wouldn't improve his mood either to dwell on how they seemed to have it all figured out – when it came to the general things at least – and he in no way did.

He felt them coming closer and steeled himself for a forced, polite nod or 'hello' greeting. It was horrific having to pretend like everything was fine when it wasn't. In his younger days he only used that particular restraint when it came to maintaining good status with his father, and maybe proving he was good enough for Lily.

The steps were light and far apart. The giddy laughter belonged to a boy and what seemed to be his grandfather's hearty chuckle. Out of curiosity, Chuck turned to look at the two. It was the waiter from the restaurant. Chuck stopped and his jaw dropped, surprised. A little part of him was actually pleased to see the man who could hardly even be called an acquaintance, but Chuck wouldn't lower him to the status of mere employee. It seemed wrong somehow.

Chuck smiled, nodding at the man as he approached. The little boy, redheaded with freckles all over, skipped past Chuck down the sidewalk. Before either Chuck or the boy's grandfather could speak a word in greeting or politely pass each other by, a loud beeping sound from oncoming cars made them turn their heads.

The old man froze. The boy was clearly petrified. Without thinking, Chuck dashed into the street, grabbed onto the little figure and made it to the other side just before cars coming from both directions slammed into the fragile small human being.

They had both been speeding and couldn't stop in time.

It had been split-second. Chuck had just gone.

…

"Are you—is this—Chuck?"

"Yes or no, Waldorf, I don't have all night," he said a little nervously, still waiting for solid confirmation.

She nearly burst into tears, half-laughing, half-crying.

"Yes! Of course yes!" She cupped his face in her hands, still laughing, still crying. "A million times yes!"

The smile that spread across his face and the wild rampant fluttering inside of him was enough to do him in for a lifetime. He leaned forward quickly and kissed her, solidifying the forever bond between them. Then he pulled away just a little to finally take the ring out of its box and slip it onto her finger.

She was laughing still, as tears gloriously sparkled in her eyes.

"It's on my finger, _finally_," she giggled. He couldn't stop smiling at her, his eyes drowning in her happiness, in his happiness, in all of it. She looked back up at him. "Still the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

She cupped his face again and pulled him closer so she could kiss him more thoroughly, drowning in how wonderful it felt to have him touching her and the for real, official, imprint he'd given her, that everyone would see now, that would be there forever.

"Where were you?" she murmured when she finally pulled away and leaned her forehead against his, shivering when his fingers grazed her neck to move her hair over her shoulder.

He chuckled. "Many places," he admitted, "but most recently the hospital."

Her eyes widened and reared her head back to look at him. "_What_? Why were you there? Are you okay?"

He nodded. "Yes, I'm fine. I wasn't there because of me. I…I kind of saved this kid…from getting hit by a car."

She almost laughed until she realized he was being serious. "Are…are you on TV?" she asked.

He laughed, because that was the last thing he had expected to hear.

"Uh…I don't know. I vaguely remember reporters on the street…and maybe some police in the hospital, but…"

She didn't wait to hear any more explanation. She reached over to her side of the bed for the TV remote and immediately flipped through the channels until she found the right one, grinning widely at the image of her _fiancé_ talking to a reporter on the local Monte Carlo news station.

"_And sir, what made you decide to act so quickly?" the reporter questioned him, looking very determined and intense._

"_Well, I…"_

"—_you could've just called for help," the man interrupted._

"_There really was no one else—"_

"_The boy's grandfather suffered a cardiac arrest when his saw his grandson run into the middle of the road with oncoming cars about to hit him. Why didn't you think to help him instead?"_

_Chuck attempted no answer. He just waited, prepared to reply if he was ever given a moment._

"_And certainly with what happened to you last winter in the accident you would've been prone to avoiding all possible car interference on the road."_

_Chuck glared, wondering how the reporter knew that information._

Blair stiffened as she watched the screen on the bed before. It still affected her. The whole thing did. Chuck knew this was what the old man had meant. Something would happen. He would just know.

"_I didn't think. It was just instinct. I did what needed to be done."_

"_Well, there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. Chuck Bass, American hero on foreign shores. Back to you…"_

Blair pressed the power button down to turn the TV off and turned to look at him. She hesitated for a moment, because she knew she wasn't just going to congratulate him. Teasing and admiration was for another time. Probably soon after this next question if the answer proved to give them their happily ever after.

"Chuck…what made you decide to propose to me tonight?" she asked quietly, her hand smoothing back and forth over the bed covers. "You were gone a long time. You could've just decided to be with me. You didn't have to propose right away."

He sighed and sat up, scooting over to her and taking her hand, running his thumb over the diamond now nestled atop her finger.

"For most of tonight, Blair, I couldn't make up my mind. Even though I knew I wanted to be with you, that you were it for me, that you always have been…" She smiled mistily. "All I could think about was how much you've hurt me this year." She closed her eyes in anguish.

"I'm sorry," she choked.

He shook his head. "No…you've said enough apologies." He sighed again. "I knew what you'd told me was true, that you meant every word, but there was still that little bit of doubt. I wondered how long it would last."

"Chuck-"

"Blair, let me get this out."

Her mouth snapped shut.

"The man whose grandson nearly got hit-"

"-who you saved." She smiled a little.

"Yes," he confirmed. "He was the waiter at the restaurant I ended up at tonight, where I sat for hours just thinking about what I was going to do. He wanted to know if I was going to propose tonight, because I was alternating between opening and closing this little velvet box all night." He chuckled lightly as he shot a glance to the now empty box sitting some distance from them on the bed.

"What did you tell him?" she asked breathily, even if she knew this wasn't the end of the story.

He hesitated. "I told him maybe."

She swallowed.

"When I resolved to walk back in the hopes of getting my thoughts figured out, that was when the accident happened. I went with them to the hospital because he had a heart attack when his grandson almost got hit. The boy was in hysterics too…I couldn't just leave him in the hands of strange paramedics." He shook his head at the ridiculous thought.

Blair smiled to herself, envisioning him as the most perfect, loving father.

"The man is fine now. He recovered and last I saw nurses were giving the very relieved boy some apple juice." He smirked. Blair continued to smile. "But just before I left, I went to see him – the older man. One of the nurses told me he was asking for me, so I went in, expecting some thanks that I would accept politely and then leave, offering money to pay any medical bills if necessary."

"What did he say to you?" she asked, her eyes alight with excitement, even as she tried to conceal it.

"Well, he did thank me, but…he also told me that I should get off my stubborn ass and ask you to marry me already."

Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "_Chuck_."

He laughed. "It's true. I've never seen such passionate insistence in a man who'd just recovered from a heart attack not twenty minutes earlier."

"What else did he say?" she pressed, knowing there was more.

"He said that if I could run into oncoming traffic to save a little boy I didn't even know without any regard to my safety whatsoever, that I would be a fool to run away from a marriage because I'm scared, no matter what past or difficulties might have happened to put me in that state of mind…and heart."

She blinked away tears and wrapped her hand around his. He squeezed her hand tightly and then kissed the back of it. Her butterflies erupted.

"Apparently I reminded him of himself at my age. He didn't take the risk with the love of his life…because of circumstances that he obviously didn't get much into…and he always regretted it. The woman he did eventually end up marrying, he loved, and he didn't regret that because of the children and grandchildren that came out of their marriage. They were good companions for each other, best friends even. But she wasn't the one." He paused and looked up at her, into her deep, glistening brown eyes. "You're the one, Blair. I'm willing to take the risk."

"Oh, Chuck." She wrapped her arms around his neck, diving into the embrace. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, whispering that he loved her and she repeated the same back to him.

"I'm taking the risk too," she said when she pulled away. "You are the reason all my relationships with other guys end." She shook her head and chuckled. "Because sooner or later they always give me the ultimatum, and I can never, _ever_ tell them that I will always want them forever. With you I can."

"And Louis?"

She sighed. "I married him because I thought I was going to lose you. I truly believed it. You know that."

He nodded, understanding like he hadn't been able to before.

"The only thing more awful than the idea of never being able to be _with_ you ever again is having you gone from my life forever because you're not _alive_. Arguments can be mended, relationships can end, hatred can dissolve, but the guarantee of none of those is too horrible to imagine." She shuddered, just thinking of it.

He took both her hands in his own and kissed them.

"It won't happen again, Blair. I promise."

"You can't make that promise…" she sighed sadly.

"Will you promise to never leave me again?"

She bit her lip. "Yes. I won't ever leave you again. I promise."

"Then I'll do my best to make sure you won't have to, whatever the reason."

She nodded and then pulled him in for another kiss.

"Mrs. Blair Bass," she murmured against him, smiling. His telltale smirk radiated heat to her face.

"Like the sound of that?" he teased.

She pulled back and nodded excitedly. "Most definitely. I've been writing it in my diary since senior year," she confided.

He raised his eyebrows. "Really now?"

"Well, since the summer before if I'm being honest, but I like to forget that period in my life." She pushed him onto his back before he could answer and hovered over him, loving the delicious feel of his hands around her waist and the look in his eyes as her hair draped around her face and his expression hid from view, should anyone try to see.

She lowered her face to kiss him sweetly. "I couldn't get you out of my head," she muttered. He nuzzled against her. "It was awful." He laughed and wrapped an arm around her, moving them so they were both side by side on the bed.

After another kiss, she pulled away again.

"What?" he asked, twirling his fingers in her hair.

"Out of curiosity, what was that guy's name?" she asked.

"Who?" he asked, all moments but this one forgotten.

She rolled her eyes. "_Who_? The guy who convinced you to propose!" She smacked his chest lightly. "The guy whose _grandson_ you _saved_," she teased.

"Oh." He scanned his memory in an effort to remember this apparently very vital piece of information that she could easily find in a news report. His eyes lit up when he remembered.

"What?" she asked, excited by his expression even as she laughed at both of them in her head.

His excitement dimmed down to casual confiding. He smirked, proud of himself for the simple act of remembering to make her happy.

"It was Henry."

…

A/N: Epilogue to come. And worry not! I have not forgotten about the Bart issue. It is yet to be addressed and will be concluded nicely. Have faith. ;) And thank you once again for being with me on this journey. Your reviews have kept this story alive. I never thought it would go on for so long.


	19. Epilogue

A/N: Well, my faithful readers, it is finally here. The last official chapter of _Innocent Attraction_. I want to thank all of you so much for continuing to come back and read and review. It means the world to me. A special shout out to **Mary (scarlett2u)** & **Ellen (Dr. GG)** for all your amazing, long detailed reviews. Sometimes your words alone motivate me to update. Hope you all enjoy this last bit and head on over to my profile to see what I'll be updating next & vote on what's being written in the more distant future. =) All your support means the world.

*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

…

**Epilogue—**

_2 years later…_

"Dorota!" Blair called from the bedroom, only to be met with absolute silence. "Dorota!" she called again, this time from the hall. Still, nothing. "Dorota!" she yelled, coming to a standstill at the top of the stairs.

The maid bustled into the foyer from the kitchen.

"Yes, Miss Blair?" she asked innocently, barely able to contain the multiple packages in her arms.

"Where have you _been_?" Blair seethed, even as she helped her made with her things when she reached the bottom of the stairs.

"I…I go out to get more food," she explained, following her mistress as she walked into the kitchen. "And also to threaten the uh…florist. Like you ask, Miss Blair," she said timidly.

Blair turned around and looked at her, almost amused, but then suddenly serious.

"She mixed up lilies with irises. Who does that?"

"No one I know of," Dorota muttered, as she finished setting the table and placing the food where it needed to be.

"People will be coming soon…" Blair mused, tapping her freshly manicured fingernails on the counter. "Everything appears to be ready…food is cooked, flowers are in place, Henry is napping, Chuck is…" Her brows furrowed. "Where is…"

"What wrong, Miss Blair?" Dorota asked hesitantly.

She didn't respond, but instead appeared to have heard something and then walked determined to the front door, swinging it wide open just as a very aggravated Chuck blew in past her. She had to fight for a moment to catch her breath. That was when she noticed an exasperated Lily Bass standing in their driveway.

"Dorota," she said, this time much softer as she turned to find her maid now right behind her. "Why don't you invite Lily in for some tea. Tell her I'll be down in a minute."

Dorota nodded once and moved past her mistress as she headed in the opposite direction, back up the stairs to her bedroom with Chuck.

He looked up before she even appeared in the doorway. His hair was now tousled, his tie was undone and his jacket hung open crookedly.

"Wanna tell me what happened?" she asked, tilting her head to the side to further analyze his dress-state.

He shook his head. "Just Lily trying to make it work with me and my father again," he scoffed. Blair nodded and walked to him, dropping herself in his lap and wrapping her arms loose around his neck as he instinctively cradled her to him.

"She just wants you to be a family again, for you to have a blood-family relationship that's good."

"Well, I don't need one." He gripped her slightly tighter. "I have you. And I have Lily. Serena and Eric, even Jack and I have a more solid relationship than anything I ever shared with Bart."

Gently, he pushed her off his lap and set her on the bed, starting to pace.

"I wish you would have just let me destroy him, Blair. Completely just…ruin his life."

"Chuck…"

"He's only brought me misery. To just give him what he wants…."

She stood up and walked to him again, stopping him, cupping his face fiercely.

"Chuck, it was the right thing to do." He looked away, frustrated, but she turned his gaze back to hers. "By not setting out to destroy him you showed him that it didn't matter what he thought, because you were going to be happy all on your own. You don't need his approval and you don't need his resources."

He searched her eyes and then finally some of the tension started to seep out.

"The high road," he said.

She smiled lightly. "Yes. And look what you've got from it. Plenty of real estate, in New York no less, built on your own money, your own experience, your own quality service. And he hasn't bothered you. He's not trying to destroy you. Lily may feel it's her obligation to try to fix the way things are, but the only one who can make that happen is Bart. It's not like you haven't been polite at social gatherings."

He nodded, wanted to accept it, believe she was right, but every time Lily came to him asking for an invitation to one thing or the next, just one more plus one, the past came rushing to him and he couldn't help but get angry at the one event he was sure would have mended all fences.

"He didn't come to our wedding, Blair," he said softly, his voice totally heartbroken. She ached for him, but the feeling was there for her too and after a moment she had to look away. "And it wasn't that he _couldn't_ come. He _wouldn't_. I went to him later and asked—"

"I know," she tried to break him off but her breathless voice was too quiet.

"He said love was foolish and that I was wasting my life by marrying you instead of establishing a good reputation as a businessman."

Blair closed her eyes, and surprisingly a tear dripped down her face. When Chuck looked up at her, he was shocked and swiftly wiped it away, cradling her face in his hands.

"I didn't tell Lily," he said. "I couldn't. Not even to this day, not any time in the last two years she's prompted me to make amends, because he's my _father_ and that should _mean_ something."

She opened her eyes and blinked, knew the reasons why.

"You don't have to carry this burden anymore, Chuck. I…I invited her in." His hands dropped from her face and his brows furrowed, tentatively in anger. "She's downstairs," she whispered, sensing his severe change in mood.

"You invited her in?"

"She was going to come later for the party anyways. So, I just thought…"

He scoffed and went past her, created tainted wind around her.

"What am I supposed to tell her, Blair? Everything I just told you?" He sighed and turned back to look at her crumpled form. "It's Hen's first birthday today. I don't want to have to deal with my relationship with father or his relationship with Lily. It's too serious, too…dramatic. Today should be happy, light-hearted."

She turned to face him, offering a tiny smile, blinking the remains of her tears away.

"I want…" he slowly walked towards her. "to hold my bouncing baby boy in my arms and wish him a happy birthday."

Her smile spread a little.

"I want…to take my beautiful wife…" he reached her, pulled her to him with a firm exciting tug around her waist. "and kiss her until she can't think straight," he murmured in her ear. She made a quiet, content noise. He pressed a sweet kiss to her cheek and pulled back.

She sighed. "Please talk to her, Chuck."

He stared at her, not angry, but not saying anything either.

"Then it will be over with and we can enjoy the party. All of us. Then she'll be in the know and it will be up to Bart to do anything, and if he doesn't, then fine. But at least there won't be any secrets."

"Do you think she'll even really care if she knows he's only married to her for appearances?"

"Lily's fond of marriage," she said a little lightheartedly. "Sometimes she fights for them and sometimes she doesn't. If she really loves your father, she'll confront him and make him fight. If she doesn't, she'll let it slide and won't say a word. Something tells me it would take more than an emotionless man to make her break away. He's done nothing to her to show that he doesn't care."

He sighed and nodded. "He may be more complicated than I want to admit."

"You came from him," she said. "He can't be stone cold." She leaned forward and kissed him.

"I only melted cause you loved me," he murmured into the kiss.

She sighed contentedly and draped her arms around his neck, his hands instantly resting around her waist again.

"Love. Present tense."

He smiled. "Love. Present tense."

Her eyes twinkled as she pulled away and he finally consented.

"Alright. I'll talk to her."

She kissed him once more and sent him out the door looking slightly more put together than how she'd found him.

…

Lily had left shortly after her conversation with Chuck an hour ago. She hadn't returned yet and the party was in full swing, baby Henry being passed from one gushing "family friend" to the next, much to Chuck and Blair's chagrin. But overall everything was going well. There had been no food or floral or other concerning entanglements to cause any overwhelming chaos. The most "chaotic" thing was the overpowering amount of balloons Serena had burst through the front door with. And maybe the fact that Dan had slipped in at one point when Blair had been hoping he wouldn't show, even if she'd felt obligated to send an invitation to avoid any extended awkwardness in their future.

As for Chuck, his smiles were mainly for appearance, though they were completely genuine when he looked at his brown haired-brown eyed son who was sure looked everything like his wife and nothing like him, and so made every effort to dress him like himself as early as possible so people would see some similarity. Despite that people said, his wife included, that the child was a perfect combination of the two of them, he just couldn't see it most of the time. Though maybe that just came from him being so enraptured in his wife that he couldn't see much outside of her.

Chuck's thoughts still dwelt on Lily though. When he told her about his little conversation with Bart on his wedding day, she didn't seem surprised at all. But she didn't defend him either. She became very understanding and endearing very quickly though and promised Blair a pleasant chat later at the party because suddenly she felt the need to leave.

It still unsettled him.

"Time for the cake, everyone!"

He turned to watch his wife, glowing with pride as she set their baby boy into his high chair and encouraged the guests she considered most important to circle around the table and sing happy birthday. He smirked and pushed himself off the wall, heading into the room and standing at the far end of the table so he could watch his baby boy's expression when the candle was lit and the people began to sing. He was still enamored with the party hat and elastic strap beneath his chin that Serena had been insistent to Blair that he wore at least this once. After much repetitious begging, she consented.

_Happy Birthday to you…_

The singing began. Little Henry's eyes were all aglow, mesmerized by the flame. Blair was giddy with delight, crouching beside him as he looked on at the small cake made just for him.

_Happy Birthday to you…Happy Birthday, dear Henry…_

The front door opened on the last word, and with Blair's belated help baby Henry Bass blew out his first candle while Chuck froze in his spot, eyes narrowed, anger rebuilt and trudging forward to guide his father, Bart Bass, out of the dining room and down a far corridor.

Whispers spread throughout the room, but quickly dispersed as Henry dug his hand into the cake and Blair quickly assigned the dishing out of desserts to Dorota and a few other staff members. Hastily, she tried as best as she could to clean Henry up, but eventually resigned to the fact that he would dirty his hands and face as long as there was cake in front of him. She sat back and watched and smiled, for his sake, even as inwardly she was barely holding back.

"What are you doing here?" Chuck demanded.

"Nice to see you too, Charles. I see you're having a party."

"Get to the point," he snapped.

Bart looked at him coolly, assessing him. Chuck hated that.

"That is the point."

Chuck stared blankly.

"I talked to Lily. She…suggested I come to the party, that it would be good for me."

"I seem to recall other events she suggested that you firmly declined. My wedding, for instance."

"I wasn't in a good place, son." He placed his hand on his shoulder.

Chuck shrugged him off. "And suddenly you are? What's at risk for you now? Why are you here? I'm pretty sure the last time we had an actual conversation I was the scum of the earth to you."

"Don't be dramatic."

"Get out of my house."

"I'm trying to make a real effort here," he insisted.

"Why? Why now?"

He sighed. "Lily threatened to leave me."

He laughed. "Why should that bother you? It isn't as if you can't find another society wife that can fit the profile just as well. Of course, there is being rejected both dead and alive, but the media loves you. I'm sure you can pull it off."

"It isn't like that."

"Oh?"

"We don't just look good in print or to New York society. I love her."

He snorted. "That's rich, dad. Really."

"I'm serious."

"You know, maybe once I could have believed you. But after two years of having your rejection because I chose love and a career, instead of just being a stone-cold, business tycoon like yourself, I find that hard to believe."

He pursed his lips tightly.

"My first marriage didn't end well. I didn't want it to be that way for you."

"Your relationship with my mother was nothing like mine is with Blair," he said firmly. "It was messy and manipulative, and while Blair and I have definitely dealt with those complications, when we finally got married, when we had a baby, that wasn't there anymore. That was done."

"I know. I see that now."

Chuck's eyes narrowed, analyzing his father further.

"You could have just told Lily you had come, made up an elaborate story that she would believe. She can be gullible, you know. Sometimes she only hears what she wants to."

He sighed. "It wouldn't have been the same. It wouldn't have been real. I want it to be real with her."

"I got a different impression on my wedding day."

"I apologize for my actions. I must admit I was being selfish because everything was working out for you, and you didn't follow the rules."

"I didn't do what _you_ wanted me to, you mean."

"Yes."

"So, why now?"

"Lily—"

"_Dad_."

He sighed. "I found this in our mail this morning." He handed an opened envelope with a card nestled inside to him. "The address must have gotten mixed up somehow."

Chuck looked at it suspiciously, but then reluctantly took it and pulled out the card to read it.

_Chuck,_

_I don't know if you remember me, but I have not stopped thinking about you since the day you saved my precious Charlie from that dreadful near car accident two years ago. I have managed to find out some news of you and cannot tell you how proud I am to be carrying the same name as your son, which I hope you came up with on your own and not in remembrance of me. Monte Carlo is not the same without you and should you ever return to our island of the world, please do visit. I wish you all the best._

_Henry_

"Is this man of some significance to you?" Bart asked, noticing the tears welling up in Chuck's eyes in the sentimental smile.

"Yes," was all he said as he tucked the card back inside its envelope.

"I would like to be a part of your life, Charles. I don't want you to have to look for parents elsewhere when I am here, and when I did in fact only risk my life before because I was concerned for your safety and for Lily's. I'd forgotten that."

That admission somehow started to soften Chuck's heart.

"I am _very_ proud of all that you've accomplished," he said very seriously.

Chuck swallowed.

"And I know I'm not good at showing my emotions, especially any sort of genuine love and affection. I have never known for it to truly benefit career and success on its own. But after two regretful years on my part, I can see that it has granted both you and Blair great success. I am…sorry I ever doubted."

Chuck hesitated and finally looked at his father, making his decision even as his heart squeezed.

"You have to apologize to Blair."

"Yes, of course."

"She didn't deserve what you did to her, how you treated her, even if it's in the past."

"I know."

Chuck sighed and tucked the card inside his jacket. Then he re-entered the dining room where most people were still eating and headed for Blair who had just finished cleaning up Henry and had left him in the care of a bubbly Dorota to avoid any more stickiness before present-opening.

Blair looked relieved when she saw him, but then wary when she saw Bart coming behind him.

"Chuck, what is—"

"My father has something he would like to say to you, Blair."

Her eyes widened as she looked between the two and then finally back to Bart.

"I've been a fool, Blair. I doubted your potential, your love for my son and how great of an influence you have been on him and everyone around you. I'm sorry for my words two years ago and my actions since then. Will you forgive me?"

Her mouth opened and closed. She looked again to Chuck who gave her a nod of confirmation. She swallowed and forced a tight smile.

"It won't be easy, Mr. Bass, but I'm sure in time both Chuck and I can forgive you. The important thing is that you make a good impression on Henry."

Chuck's eyes dashed to hers.

"It would be a shame if the kind of pain you inflicted on Chuck would ever have to be passed on to him."

He nodded once. "Thank-you, Blair. I am forever thankful." He moved past them and into the party where he soon found Lily who had apparently come in right under their noses. Both Chuck and Blair wondered if there had been some conspiracy in the works. There never seemed to be, but it certainly did seem awful coincidental.

"Are you okay?" Blair asked Chuck, staring at Bart and Lily's interactions.

"I think so. You?"

She turned to look at him.

"I think so."

He softened and brought her to him, kissed her and then moved his mouth to her ear.

"Where's my baby boy?"

She raised an eyebrow when he pulled back.

"Probably in the living room now, pulling at ribbons and Serena's hair. Why?" Her gaze shifted to the seductive. "Did you have something in mind?"

Her eyes twinkled and he decided holding his son during present opening or even after everyone had left when it could be just them boys was an excellent idea.

"_Mrs. Bass_," he teased. "You're naughty."

She shrugged and bit her bottom lip. "Comes with the territory." She batted her eyelashes and a fire brewed in both their bellies.

And she was upstairs, in their bedroom, being slammed against the closet door and ravaged by her husband as the loud chatter of people talking and Henry giggling and pounding blocks downstairs concealed the muffled screams and growling emanating from the upstairs.

Their attraction wasn't innocent. Not at all.

…

A/N: I hope it was satisfactory for you! If not, well, what's done is done. XD Next up I will be finishing up Softspoken and throwing in a one-shot or two. As always, thanks again for your dedication and reviews. Means the world. =)


End file.
